![]() ![]() Each component of the facades had been cast individually in a sand mold in a foundry, machined smooth, tested for fit, and finally trundled on horse-drawn drays to the building site. The innovation was its two street facades of self-supporting cast iron, consisting of multiples of only a few pieces-Doric-style engaged columns, panels, sills, and plates, along with some applied ornaments. One of the cast-iron walls was load-bearing, supporting the wood floor joists. Its rear, side, and interior bearing walls were of brick the floor framing consisted of timber joists and girders. Known as the Edgar Laing Stores, this corner row of small four-story warehouses that looked like one building was constructed in lower Manhattan in only two months. In 1849 Bogardus created something uniquely American when he erected the first structure with self-supporting, multi-storied exterior walls of iron. ![]() He also stressed that the foundry casting processes, by which cast iron was made into building elements, were thoroughly compatible with the new concepts of prefabrication, mass production, and use of identical interchangeable parts. From 1840 on, Bogardus extolled its virtues of strength, structural stability, durability, relative lightness, ability to be cast in almost any shape and, above all, the fire-resistant qualities so sought after in an age of serious urban conflagrations. Most importantly, cast-iron storefronts were inexpensive to assemble, requiring little onsite labor.Ī tireless advocate for the use of cast iron in buildings was an inventive New Yorker, the self-taught architect/engineer James Bogardus. SRWARE IRON CAST PROBLEM WINDOWSNot only did it help support the load of the upper floors, but it provided large show windows for the display of wares and allowed natural light to flood the interiors of the shops. In the years ahead, and into the 1920s, the practical cast-iron storefront would become a favorite in towns and cities from coast to coast. Daniel Badger, the Boston foundryman who later moved to New York, asserted that in 1842 he fabricated and installed the first rolling iron shutters for iron storefronts, which provided protection against theft and external fire. In the United States, similar thin columns were first employed in the 1820s in theaters and churches to support balconies.īy the mid-1820's, one-story iron storefronts were being advertised in New York City. ![]() Known for its great strength in compression, cast iron in the form of slender, nonflammable pillars, was introduced in the 1790s in English cotton mills, where fires were endemic. This age-old metal, an iron alloy with a high carbon content, had been too costly to make in large quantities until the mid-18th century, when new furnace technology in England made it more economical for use in construction. As an architectural metal, it made possible bold new advances in architectural designs and building technology, while providing a richness in ornamentation. Cast iron was used extensively in our cities for water systems and street lighting. Cast-iron machinery filled America's factories and made possible the growth of railroad transportation. Photo: Don Meacham.Ĭast iron played a pre-eminent role in the industrial development of our country during the 19th century. This shows a detail of a polychromed cast-iron facade in Petaluma, California, 1886 (O'Connell and Lewis, Architectural Iron Works, San Francisco). ![]()
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