Search results
History of construction. The history of construction traces the changes in building tools, methods, techniques and systems used in the field of construction. It explains the evolution of how humans created shelter and other structures that comprises the entire built environment. It covers several fields including structural engineering, civil ...
- Overview
- Primitive building: the Stone Age
construction, the techniques and industry involved in the assembly and erection of structures, primarily those used to provide shelter.
Construction is an ancient human activity. It began with the purely functional need for a controlled environment to moderate the effects of climate. Constructed shelters were one means by which human beings were able to adapt themselves to a wide variety of climates and become a global species.
Human shelters were at first very simple and perhaps lasted only a few days or months. Over time, however, even temporary structures evolved into such highly refined forms as the igloo. Gradually more durable structures began to appear, particularly after the advent of agriculture, when people began to stay in one place for long periods. The first shelters were dwellings, but later other functions, such as food storage and ceremony, were housed in separate buildings. Some structures began to have symbolic as well as functional value, marking the beginning of the distinction between architecture and building.
The history of building is marked by a number of trends. One is the increasing durability of the materials used. Early building materials were perishable, such as leaves, branches, and animal hides. Later, more durable natural materials—such as clay, stone, and timber—and, finally, synthetic materials—such as brick, concrete, metals, and plastics—were used. Another is a quest for buildings of ever greater height and span; this was made possible by the development of stronger materials and by knowledge of how materials behave and how to exploit them to greater advantage. A third major trend involves the degree of control exercised over the interior environment of buildings: increasingly precise regulation of air temperature, light and sound levels, humidity, odours, air speed, and other factors that affect human comfort has been possible. Yet another trend is the change in energy available to the construction process, starting with human muscle power and developing toward the powerful machinery used today.
The present state of construction is complex. There is a wide range of building products and systems which are aimed primarily at groups of building types or markets. The design process for buildings is highly organized and draws upon research establishments that study material properties and performance, code officials who adopt and enforce safety standards, and design professionals who determine user needs and design a building to meet those needs. The construction process is also highly organized; it includes the manufacturers of building products and systems, the craftsmen who assemble them on the building site, the contractors who employ and coordinate the work of the craftsmen, and consultants who specialize in such aspects as construction management, quality control, and insurance.
Construction today is a significant part of industrial culture, a manifestation of its diversity and complexity and a measure of its mastery of natural forces, which can produce a widely varied built environment to serve the diverse needs of society. This article first traces the history of construction, then surveys its development at the present time. For treatment of the aesthetic considerations of building design, see architecture. For further treatment of historical development, see art and architecture, Anatolian; art and architecture, Arabian; art and architecture, Egyptian; art and architecture, Iranian; art and architecture, Mesopotamian; art and architecture, Syro-Palestinian; architecture, African; art and architecture, Oceanic; architecture, Western; arts, Central Asian; arts, East Asian; arts, Islamic; arts, Native American; arts, South Asian; arts, Southeast Asian.
The hunter-gatherers of the late Stone Age, who moved about a wide area in search of food, built the earliest temporary shelters that appear in the archaeological record. Excavations at a number of sites in Europe dated to before 12,000 bce show circular rings of stones that are believed to have formed part of such shelters. They may have braced crude huts made of wooden poles or have weighted down the walls of tents made of animal skins, presumably supported by central poles.
A tent illustrates the basic elements of environmental control that are the concern of construction. The tent creates a membrane to shed rain and snow; cold water on the human skin absorbs body heat. The membrane reduces wind speed as well; air over the human skin also promotes heat loss. It controls heat transfer by keeping out the hot rays of the sun and confining heated air in cold weather. It also blocks out light and provides visual privacy. The membrane must be supported against the forces of gravity and wind; a structure is necessary. Membranes of hides are strong in tension (stresses imposed by stretching forces), but poles must be added to take compression (stresses imposed by compacting forces). Indeed, much of the history of construction is the search for more sophisticated solutions to the same basic problems that the tent was set out to solve. The tent has continued in use to the present. The Saudi Arabian goats’ hair tent, the Mongolian yurt with its collapsible wooden frame and felt coverings, and the American Indian tepee with its multiple pole supports and double membrane are more refined and elegant descendants of the crude shelters of the early hunter-gatherers.
The agricultural revolution, dated to about 10,000 bce, gave a major impetus to construction. People no longer traveled in search of game or followed their herds but stayed in one place to tend their fields. Dwellings began to be more permanent. Archaeological records are scanty, but in the Middle East are found the remains of whole villages of round dwellings called tholoi, whose walls are made of packed clay; all traces of roofs have disappeared. In Europe tholoi were built of dry-laid stone with domed roofs; there are still surviving examples (of more recent construction) of these beehive structures in the Alps. In later Middle Eastern tholoi a rectangular antechamber or entrance hall appeared, attached to the main circular chamber—the first examples of the rectangular plan form in building. Still later the circular form was dropped in favour of the rectangle as dwellings were divided into more rooms and more dwellings were placed together in settlements. The tholoi marked an important step in the search for durability; they were the beginning of masonry construction.
Evidence of composite construction of clay and wood, the so-called wattle-and-daub method, is also found in Europe and the Middle East. The walls were made of small saplings or reeds, which were easy to cut with stone tools. They were driven into the ground, tied together laterally with vegetable fibres, and then plastered over with wet clay to give added rigidity and weatherproofing. The roofs have not survived, but the structures were probably covered with crude thatch or bundled reeds. Both round and rectangular forms are found, usually with central hearths.
Sep 27, 2024 · Construction - Industrialization, Materials, Techniques: The last half of the 18th century saw the unfolding of a series of events, primarily in England, that later historians would call the first Industrial Revolution, which would have a profound influence on society as a whole as well as on building technology. Among the first of these events was the large-scale production of iron, beginning ...
Mar 1, 2023 · The evolution of construction materials and techniqueshas come a long way from the days of building with mud and straw. Throughout human history, the materials used for construction and the techniques employed to build structures have evolved greatly, leading to the development of the skyscrapers and modern architectural marvels that exist today.
Mar 4, 2022 · The history of construction is as old as the history of humanity. From mud huts and megalithic stones to mega highways and skyscrapers, the evolution of construction reflects mankind’s ever-growing mastery of raw materials and technology. Construction’s history is complex and expansive—it’s impossible to do it justice in a single blog.
Feb 6, 2006 · Construction Industry, History of. The first permanent structures at PORT-ROYAL were erected in 1605 by French artisans using local materials. In 1607 the first water mill in North America was erected nearby (on the L'Equille River) to assist with the grinding of the first locally grown corn.
People also ask
How have construction materials and techniques evolved?
What is the history of construction materials & techniques?
How have construction materials changed over time?
What is the history of construction?
What is the history of building materials?
Where did historical building techniques come from?
Dec 10, 2020 · The Development of Building Sciences. A massive discovery for construction in the industrial age was the development of building science. It started with the elastic theory of structures in the early 1800’s Major development first began with the English scientist Thomas Young’s modern definition of the modulus of elasticity in 1807.
