History of Housing Lesson

History of Housing

Construction, Civil Engineering and Architecture

Definitions

Civil Engineering

An engineer trained
in the design and
construction of
public works, such
as bridges, dams,
and other large
facilities.

Architecture

Art and science of
designing buildings
for human
habitation.

Beginnings

Building Materials

Materials were chosen based on

availability and climate.

Ruins of Babylon (present day Iraq). All that remains of the famous city-state is a mound of
broken mud-brick dwellings.

Greece consists almost entirely of limestone with
many sources of fine marble. Therefore many Greek
structures were constructed with limestone and
marble.

View of the city of Machu
Picchu constructed from stone
cut from the surrounding
mountains.

Wood was readily available in China.
Traditional Chinese wooden architecture
changed little over thousands of years.

www.wikipedia.org

www.wikipedia.org

Vernacular Architecture

African Hut at Bana, a
small village of
Cameroon

www.wikipedia.org

www.wikipedia.org

An igloo, an Inuit winter dwelling

Methods of construction
that use locally available
resources and traditions to
address local needs.

Vernacular Architecture

Apache wickiup
built of brush,
grass, or reed

Traditional Nepalese
house built of stone
and clay

Southern African
rondavel
(or banda)

The Pyramids

Stepped Pyramid

Great Pyramid of Khufu

The Pyramids

Kukulkan's Pyramid

Modern Pyramids

The Parthenon

Arches

Keystone

The Vault

Domes

Pantheon

Colosseum

Great Wall of China

Water Supply

Road Systems

Early Bridge Designs

www.wikipedia.org

Roman Bridges

Roman bridge in Vaison la Romaine,
south France

A Roman bridge crosses the Afrin River in
northern Syria and is still in use today.

©istockphoto.com

©istockphoto.com

istockphoto.com

After the Fall of Rome

The first arch bridge in the world to be made out of cast
iron, a material which was previously far too expensive
to use for large structures

istockphoto.com

www.wikipedia.org

Structural Steel

Perhaps the best known
structural steel framed
building is the Empire State
Building, completed in 1931.

istockphoto.com

Reinforced Concrete

The Burj Khalifa (United Arab
Emirates) is the tallest
man-made structure ever
built. It is supported by a
reinforced concrete core
using a special concrete mix.

istockphoto.com

Reinforced Concrete Bridges

www.wikipedia.org

Cedar Avenue Bridge (actually carrying Tenth Street) in Minneapolis,
MN over the Mississippi is a reinforced concrete open spandrel arch
bridge.

Image Resources

Microsoft, Inc. (2008). Clip art. Retrieved August 26, 2008, from

http://office. microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx

Wikipedia. Retrieved January 11, 2009, from www.wikipedia.org
iStockphoto. Retrieved January 11.2009, from

www.istockphoto.com

References

Williams, T. I. (2000). A history of invention. New York:

Checkmark Books.