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From new tools and methods towards new tasks and ideals: The impact of technology and science on architecture and engineering in the post-war era

par Devos, Rika
Référence Structures and Architecture. Concepts, Applications and Challenges (ICSA 2: 24-26 juillet 2013: Guimaraes)
Publication Non publié, 2013

Communication à un colloque

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Résumé :

The development of new building tools and methods is an important motor in construction history. In the years after World War II, the world of building witnessed an unprecedented expansion in materials (like: plastics, aluminium, asbestos), technologies (like: pre- and post-tensioning of concrete, lightweight and tensile construction, glulams, space frames) and methods (in design, calculation and organization). During post-war reconstruction and in later years, these new tools developed through technological and scientific research, enabled new ways to design and build to both architects and engineers, aiming at greater efficiency, lower cost, better control and planning, safer procedures and buildings, … often with great success. In the historiography of construction, new tools and methods are considered as important actors in progress, yet the description of their development is most often restricted to their immediate effects and first-time uses in the world of building. Nevertheless, the introduction of new tools and methods also affected the building design professions more profoundly. In several cases, they triggered a questioning of professional demarcation, skills, knowledge, training and the division of roles in design – a discussion rising in the fifties and a returning issue in magazines and books until the mid-seventies. Moreover, through this questioning, the very nature and authority of design was interrogated and with it, new concepts on architecture, engineering, building and their relationship were forwarded, including a re-consideration of their societal position.Several questions can be raised in this context, both general and aiming at specific cases. Does the appreciation for the new tools and methods, or for technology and science in general, change over the years? Who is involved in the new design situations and what is the role of the building industries or “new” profiles such as lighting engineers or HVAC specialists? Is the impact of the new tools and methods steered and promoted? Do post-war design cultures and the development of tools and methods interact and if so, how? Is the impact of the new tools and methods on the designing professions and on the ideals of the disciplines acknowledged, and if so, how and by whom?This session calls for papers exploring the profound impact of new tools and methods in the world of building in the post-war era. It seeks to critically bridge between construction history, the history of technology, architecture history and design and building practice. Papers highlighting the interaction between disciplines, through their tools, their actors and/or their ideals are especially encouraged.