The beginning of the glass and iron architecture

                 The beginning of the glass and iron architecture



Cast-iron architecture is a form of architecture where cast iron plays a central role. It was a prominent style in the Industrial Revolution era when cast iron was relatively cheap and modern steel had not yet been developed.
Cast iron has been used for centuries and was used in architecture in the pre-modern period.It was in 18th century Britain that new production methods first allowed cast iron to be produced cheaply enough and in large enough quantities to regularly be used in large building projects. One of the first important projects was The Iron Bridge in Shropshire, a precedent-setting structure made almost entirely of cast iron. However, it was grossly over-designed, and the makers (principally Abraham Darby) suffered financially as a result. The quality of the iron used in the bridge is not high, and nearly 80 brittle cracks are visible in the present structure. Later designers and engineers, such as Thomas Telford, improved both the design and quality of the material in bridges (for example, at Buildwas upstream of Coalbrookdale) and aqueducts (such as the world-famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in North Wales).



A street in SoHo in New York City
showing a number of nineteenth century
industrial structures with cast-iron facades.







Cast iron supporting structure, ceiling of the reading
 room of the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris.