Research Essay: Construction History

Notes from meeting with Michael

- Availability of materials at this time – post war etc…

- Were the buildings successful? Were the techniques successful? Were they replicated or did
they stop being used?
- Why did they not continue?
o What is the pros and cons argument of this specific structural system?
- Research analysis and fabrication (this is what GEAI did? Idk)

Subheadings

- Preceding condition – what were the conditions from which this structural system arose?
Why did it happen?
- Exploration, experimentation and development of this system
- Compare to other structural steal systems at the time
- Prototyping
- Construction
- Post GEAI, what happened after? Why did the stop? How did other construction/structural
systems supercede this? Are there still systems to this day that use similar ideas/structural
concepts.

Timeline:

1962: Formation of GEAI

1962-1966: four years of research and experimentation

1966: Prototype at Aubervillers

1968-69: La Grand’Mare, Rouens

Research:

Towards an Industrial Built Estate

- Marcel Lods, 1966

Marino, Giulia. 2016. “The Controversial History of the ‘Steel and Glass’ by Lods, Depondt and
Beauclair: The GEAI Housing Estate La Grand’Mare in Rouen (1968-2016).” Journal / International
Working-Party for Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighbourhoods of the
Modern Movement 54 (January): 28–35.

The “great adventure of GEAI” began when Marcel Lods (1891–1978), the designer of various
masterpieces of modern prefabricated architecture in France, lunched with Roger Lacharme,
Director-General of the Glass Industries of the Compagnie Saint-Gobain. The architect was extremely
persuasive:

“Monsieur, you manufacture glass. You have a large advertising budget, though it is no
business of mine to say whether it is managed usefully or not. I want to make you an unusual
proposition.To dedicate part of your budget to financing the construction of a prototype. I will
present you with the idea for it, but I will conduct the studies and tests. On the other hand, I’m not
able to organize the financing of the various elements to be manufactured and tested. If you agree,
we will proceed as industrialists, that is to say we will manufacture the components and test them.
Then we will see how to assemble them. In this way, together with the production methods of heavy
industry, we will reduce the prices and construct more buildings, so that you sell more glass!

Lacharme accepted the challenge and, together with other industrial groups — the Technical Office
for the use of Steel (OTUA), Aluminium Français and Péchiney Saint-Gobain — agreed to fund the
development and construction of a prototype of industrialized housing. Lods, for his part, brought
together a team of young designers consisting of Paul Depondt and Henri Beauclair to undertake the
development program. This led in 1962 to the formation of the Groupement pour l’Etude d’une
Architecture Industrialisée (GEAI).

In a pitch, Lods presented the system as a “‘Meccano set', the children's toy that architects, who
have yet to come up with a construction system offering so many possibilities yet with so much
apparent rigor, always dream of”1.

1
Marino, The Controversial History, 29.
“The aim of this experimental operation was to establish a “total synergy” between the imperatives
of architectural design — constructional, aesthetic and social — and the business aspirations of a
resurgent building industry.”

Makowski, Z.S. Space Structures, 1972, IABSE Congress Report, Volume 9.

- https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=bse-cr-001%3A1972%3A9%3A%3A21

Space structures are Expert on ‘space structures’ Professor Zygmunt Stanislaw Makowski writes in
1972 how the trend towards space structures over linear structural systems is due to their structural
advantages, mainly their “inherent lightness combined with great stiffness.”2

“The trend towards prefabrication is gaining momentum. Space frames can be built from simple
prefabricated units, in many cases of Standard size and shape. Such units, mass produced in the
factory, can be easily and rapidly assembled on site by semi-skilled labour. The small size of the
components greatly simplifies the handling, transportation and erection, as no heavy hoisting
equipment is required on site. As a rule, the high quality control in the factory results in a high
Standard of workmanship and a good finish. A review of the recent developments in the field of
space structures shows clearly that the most remarkable progress has been made in prefabricated
double-layer grids.

GEAI, Rouen – New Steel Construction, 4/4/19

https://www.newsteelconstruction.com/wp/geai-rouen/

“The most original item in the GEAI system is undoubtedly the floor mattress. As will be seen in the
photographs taken in the fabrication shops in Rouen, the standard panels comprise top and bottom
grids, made from 10 mm round bars at 300 mm centres in both directions.. These grids are staggered
by 150 mm in both directions with respect to one another in order to accommodate the 8 mm lacing
bars providing the infilling. The main framework around the mattress consists of four lattice girders
comprising angle chords and flat web members. All the units are interchangeable as they are
accurately fabricated in jigs. There are also special panels to allow for the passage of vertical ducts,
etc”

“As will be observed from the accompanying photographs, the elements erected on the site are
comparatively few in number. The loads are carried by steel columns and an unusual floor and
roofing system comprising components which are reminiscent of mattresses. These mattresses
consist of three-dimensional latticed frames, 300 mm deep, formed into panels based on a 900 mm

2
Makowski, 1972, 10.
square module, typical sizes on plan being 3.600 m × 2.700 m, 4.500 m × 2.700 m and 5.400 m ×
2.700 m. Within the blocks there are steel staircases, but provision could be made for lifts.”