Overview of the Construction Industry

History

Traditional Limits on Construction Options

Mud Brick, aka Adobe, in West Africa

History

North American Native people developed

specific solutions to their needs for

shelter. Some served the purposes of a

nomadic life.

History

The Teepee could be easily assembled, and disassembled

History

The Pueblo people of Taos, New Mexico inhabit the oldest town in the United States

History

The houses of Taos are made from Adobe, or mud brick

History

Adobe is one of the most popular materials on the planet for construction

History

In this African village, adobe is used to build houses and granaries to store food.

History

More African Adobe shelter.

History

Adobe is essentially sun-dried brick. Mud bricks that dry in the sun. They are easily fabricated, but must be protected from

moisture.

History

Early settlers in the midwest of the US built quickly by harvesting sod, and stacking it to make walls.

Crude but effective

History• Historically, buildings were constructed by their users.• Native Americans built their own homes, as did the early

settlers, or homesteaders.• In small villages all over the world, houses are built by

owners, or by a collective of local villagers. • Barn raisings are an example of this type of collective

construction• Some ancient civilizations organized the labor required

to build massive structures, either on the backs of ‘slave’ labor ( Slave labor was a key component in much early American construction, including early buildings in New York City) or by elevating the importance of the worker

History

Stone is a very, very, very durable material.

It is also very labor intensive, particularly when fabricated with primitive tools.

History

The Egyptians gave us the term ‘Master Builder’ or ‘Architect’ . Recent discoveries have led archaeologists to believe that a job working on the great tombs of Egypt was a highly

coveted position.

History – Ancient Egypt

Simple stone construction, such as the methods employed by the Egyptians, was massive - incapable of spanning across

any large distance.

History – Ancient Greece

Similarly, the ancient Greeks did not understand how to span great distances. They built their structures from stone, and could span short distances, from column to column in stone,

or would be forced to change materials for roof spans, constructing these from wood.

History – Ancient Greece

The Acropolis, in Athens, was constructed by individual ‘contracts’, the origin of the title ‘contractor’

History – Ancient Greece

Records indicate that the columns for the Temple of Athena on The Acropolis, in Athens, were each contracted to separate

individuals based upon a ‘specification’

History – Ancient Rome

The Romans, who came to dominate Europe in the aftermath of the Greeks, were engineers. They developed the arch, or vault, to span greater distances, the dome, and, concrete.

History – Ancient Rome

The Coliseum in Rome is one demonstration of their engineering skills.

History – Ancient Rome

The Romans were builders, and much of what they built still stands today.

History

A Roman roadway in the United Kingdom

History – Ancient RomeThe Pantheon in Rome,

constructed by the Romans, was the largest dome in the world for over a thousand

years.

It was constructed from a crude recipe for light weight

concrete

The apex of the dome was left open to allow light to enter

History – Gothic Cathedrals

Construction in Europe declined with the fall of the Roman Empire, and did not

return in any substantial way until the Middle Ages, when slowly society began

to organize, guilds were formed, and the great

Cathedrals of Europe were constructed.

These structures were built almost entirely of stone

with glass infill

History

These structures often took several hundred years to complete. No drawings were known to have been done to guide the construction. The work was supervised

by a master builder, and completed by members of the guilds, or trades.

History – Middle Ages

The Guilds, or trade unions, developed in Europe to train workers in fields of specialized work, and to pass on the tricks of the

trade to younger generations.

History – Guilds

Carpenters, Masons, Blacksmiths,Glaziers

History - Guilds

The Guilds preceded the modern trade union

The Historical Limitations on Construction

• Available Materials• Skills of the Laborers• Skills of the Master Builder• Functional Requirements• Climate• Research and Development

Another way of looking at The Historical Limitations on Construction

• We build from materials that we can source• We are dependent upon skilled labor to install

the work correctly• We need a plan and a leader.• Our buildings must fulfill our functional

requirements• We adapt our buildings to the local climate• We are constantly evolving our designs,

learning new skills, trying new materials, developing new tools

Mankind is constantly adapting to new situations, new requirements, developing technologies, and changes in the

supply line. Here in Myanmar, elephants are used in the place of heavy equipment, or teams of horses, depending upon which

century you compare to.

Here in our neck of the woods, tens of thousands of people migrated from the eastern half of the US and from Europe to follow the Oregon Trail in the hopes of building a better life for their families. They took with

them their skills, and found materials once they arrived, if they made it.

They found trees, and cut them down to build Portland.

And the march of progress never stopped. Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum in Portland, a state of the art facility at it’s time,

constructed by Hoffman Construction

History

The dynasties that ruled China for centuries took advantage of the many hands in their society and built monumental structures on

the backs of the people.

History

The Forbidden City in Beijing

History

The Walled City in Kowloon, Hong Kong

Built by residents. Eventually demolished by the government.

History - The Renaissance

The end of the Middle Ages brought on a newly revitalized Europe, known as the Renaissance, and with it,

Architects, Engineers, Clients and organized skilled trades

History – Industrial Revolution

In a very short number of years, we began to

use science to develop materials

capable of spanning great distances,

carrying great loads, and attaining

unimaginable heights. And we won’t stop.

History – 20th Century

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

History – 20th Century

The Brooklyn Bridge, The Woolworth Building, and The World Trade Center

History – 21st Century

The glass stairs in the Apple flagship store, 5th Avenue, Manhattan, NYC

History – 21st Century

The Burj Khalifa tower, Dubai, tallest structure in the world, 160 floors