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The American
Construction Industry
Brian Bowen
First published 2022
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 Brian Bowen
The right of Brian Bowen to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bowen, Brian, author.
Title: The American construction industry : its historical evolution and
potential future / Brian Bowen.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021006834 (print) | LCCN 2021006835 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367654382 (paperback) | ISBN 9780367655402 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781003130000 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Construction industry--United States--History.
Classification: LCC HD9715.U52 B69 2021 (print) | LCC HD9715.U52
(ebook) | DDC 338.4/76240973--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021006834
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021006835
DOI: 10.1201/9781003130000
Typeset in Goudy
by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.
Contents
Illustrationsvii
Sidebarsxi
Prefacexii
Acknowledgementsxiv
Sources of Illustrationsxv
Terminology and Acronymsxix
2 Classical Times10
13 Some Conclusions183
14 The Future187
Index 203
Illustrations
Figures
1.1 Components of the industry 8
2.1 Khufu Pyramid, Cairo, Egypt, 2528 BC 11
2.2 Remains of the temple at Epidauros, Greece 12
2.3 Pantheon, Rome, Italy, 113–125 AD 13
3.1 Pope Gregory VII 16
3.2 Amiens Cathedral 17
3.3a Notre Dame de Paris, 1163–1345 19
3.3b St Denis Cathedral, Paris, dedicated 1544 19
3.3c York Minster Cathedral 19
3.3d Canterbury Cathedral 19
3.4 Rouen Cathedral. “Butter tower” to right. 21
3.5 Plan for new monastery, St. Gallen, Switzerland. Late 9th
Century AD 22
3.6 Stretching parchment 23
3.7 Tracing floor at York Minster 24
3.8 Graphic illustration of construction underway 25
3.9 Quarrying, carting, mortar mixing and setting. Cistercian abbey,
Schonau, Germany 26
3.10 St Mary’s Church, Hornby, Yorkshire 27
3.11 Scaffolding, Bibliothèque Royale, Brussels 30
3.12 Ox carts hauling wood 31
3.13 Medieval building equipment 32
3.14 Templates cut from tin sheet 34
4.1 Progression of the Black Death in Europe, 1347–51 41
4.2 Medieval trade routes 41
4.3 Duccio: Annunciation of the Death of the Virgin.
One of the first introductions of perspective into artwork 42
4.4 Model of cathedral dome. Attributed to Brunelleschi 43
4.5 House of Pietro dell’Abaco, near the Church of San
Cristoforo, Siena 48
viii Illustrations
4.6 Coats of arms of the Florentine guilds. Masons
and carpenters are included under “Fabbri” 50
4.7 Santa Maria Novella, Florence. Façade by Alberti, 1420 51
4.8 Rucellai Palace, Florence. Designed by Alberti, 1451 52
4.9 Santa Maria Del’ Fiore, Florence 54
4.10 Brunelleschi’s revolving crane 55
5.1 Clarendon House, Piccadilly, London, designed by Sir Roger
Pratt, 1667 58
5.2 The Great Fire of London, 1666: extent of damage 59
5.3 Price book, William Leybourn, 1668 60
5.4 Sir Christopher Wren (1631–1723), Surveyor General for Royal
Buildings61
6.1 Jamestown, initial settlement, 1607 62
6.2 Re-creation of early Plymouth houses 63
6.3 Early water-powered sawmill, undated 65
6.4 Whaleback shell midden, Maine 65
6.5 Contract for house construction, 1657 66
7.1 Water frame spinning jenny, 1759. Richard Arkwright. 69
7.2 Newcomen steam engine, first model 1712 70
7.3 Lombe silk mill, Derby, 1718 70
7.4 Consumer demand. London, 1796. 71
7.5 Original Bank of England building, 1801. Founded 1694 71
7.6 Iron bridge, Coalbrookdale, England. 1781 75
7.7 Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal 77
8.1 Selection of 18th C. colonial houses. a: Moses Wells house,
South Windsor, CT c.1735; b: Westover Plantation,
Charles City, VA c.1750; c: Mount Airy, Richmond Cty,
VA c.1762 80
8.2 Governor’s mansion, New Bern, NC 81
8.3 Redwood Library, Newport, RI, 1747 86
8.4 Extract, CCCP 1786 Rule Book 88
8.5 Stratford Hall, home of the Lee family, 1738 89
9.1 USA status at 1775 91
9.2 Internal improvements. a: Canals built to improve
internal access; b: The National Road, completed 1815 92
9.3 Winning submission in Capitol competition. Thornton
design, 1796 93
9.4 US Capitol building as built to Latrobe design, 1827 94
9.5 West Point in 1857 95
9.6 1850 advertisement, Philadelphia 99
9.7 Rensselaer College, 1824 100
9.8 Philadelphia Row Housing, Queen Street 102
9.9 Baltimore Cathedral. Designed by Benjamin Latrobe, 1821 103
9.10 Original L’Enfant plan of Washington, DC 105
9.11 Erie Canal, completed 1825 109
Illustrations ix
9.12 Excavation of canal – note piles of spoil each side 109
9.13 Erie Canal, locks at Lockport, NY 110
9.14 Viaduct on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, known
as the Thomas Viaduct, 1833–35. Designed by Benjamin
Latrobe Jr. Still in operation today 112
10.1 Potomac Creek railroad bridge 1862, built
by Union Army engineers in 9 days 115
10.2 Iron bridge, Coalbrookdale, England. Painting
by William Williams, 1780 115
10.3 Home Insurance building, Chicago, 1885. Designed
by William Le Baron Jenney 117
10.4 Monadock Building, Chicago, 1891 – load-bearing
brick façade 118
10.5 Haughwout & Co. building, New York, 1859.
Cast iron façade 119
10.6 Original Ransome reinforcement bars, New York 119
10.7 Baltimore Fire, 1904 120
10.8 San Francisco Fire, 1906. Ruins in vicinity of Post
and Grant Avenues 120
10.9 Elisha Otis demonstrating his safety elevator,
New York World Fair, 1854 121
10.10 Clayton brick making machine, patented 1850s 122
10.11 Sash & blind manufacturer, Opelika, AL 123
10.12 First resealable paint can, Sherwin-Williams 124
10.13 William Otis’s steam excavator, patented 1839 125
10.14 Value of fire losses 126
10.15 Pension Building, DC. Now the National Building Museum 128
10.16 Philadelphia Builder’s Exchange, 1890 131
10.17 Philadelphia Custom House, 1849 132
10.18 Samuel Hannaford & Sons offices, Cincinnati, 1890.
Note print frame top right 134
10.19 Slater mill, Pawtucket, RI 1793 136
10.20 Lockwood Greene & Co., letterhead 138
10.21 Rays Hill Tunnel, South Pennsylvania Railroad,
built by Mason & Hanger, 1881–1885. The figure
in the center is Andrew Carnegie 139
10.22 One of James Stewart’s many grain silos 141
10.23 Trinity Church, Copley Square, Boston. Architect:
H.H. Richardson. Builder: Norcross Brothers, 1877 142
10.24 Flat Iron Building, New York City. Originally
the Fuller Building, 1902 143
10.25 Reinforced concrete warehouse for Robert Gair.
Brooklyn, New York, 1904. Recent conversion 144
11.1 The original plasterboard, invented in 1888. It created
friction between plasterers and carpenters 146
x Illustrations
11.2 AGC logo 149
11.3 Construction activity, 1925–1938 150
11.4 Panama Canal prior to construction, 1905 152
11.5 Hoover (Grand Coulee) Dam under construction, 1934 152
11.6 WWI cantonments, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas 153
11.7 Architects’ Small House Service (AIA) 154
11.8 Sears Roebuck houses, 1913 155
11.9 Empire State Building, New York, under construction
in 1930 158
11.10 Fort Gordon Cantonment, Atlanta, GA 161
11.11 Prest-O-Lite Plant, Indianapolis. Design and construction
management by Lockwood Greene 161
12.1 The Pentagon, Arlington, VA. Completed 1942 164
12.2 Alaska Highway under construction, 1942 165
12.3 US Army pontoon bridge across the Rhine, March 1945 165
12.4 Segi Point Airfield under construction by SeaBees
New Georgia, Solomon Islands, 1943 166
12.5 Kaiser shipyard. Liberty boats under construction, 1944 167
12.6 Interstate 55 under construction in Mississippi 168
12.7 Titan Missile Base 2A, Aurora, Colorado 1962 169
12.8 World Trade Center, New York, under construction 1969
Construction manager: Tishman. 171
12.9 Levittown house awaiting assembly, 1947 173
12.10 Construction put-in-place, 1970–2020 174
12.11 Operation Breakthrough, Descon/Concordia
submission, 1971 181
Tables
0.1 The standard analytical framework used to describe
design and construction activity xiii
1.1 Composition of the three distinct industry sectors 2
3.1 Some features of the medieval surge in building 18
Sidebars
After nearly 50 years in the construction industries of Great Britain, Canada and
the United States, I retired in 2000 as president of Hanscomb Inc. Prior to that
point I had been helping the College of Architecture at the Georgia Institute
of Technology with a new program of continuing education, one component of
which was to be a course on the construction industry for non-technical profes-
sionals, such as those in administration or business development. It was decided
that the course would open with a short introduction to the history of the indus-
try. I assumed that there must be texts of some kind on the subject, only to draw
a blank. Plenty existed on individual histories of design professions, aspects of
construction activity and company histories, but none on the industry at large.
In 2005 I was appointed as a Professor in the Practice of Construction
Management and chose as my field of research Construction History, on the
grounds that our students in architecture, engineering and construction man-
agement should understand the historical evolution of the industry in which they
would be making their careers. After 18 months of research, drawing on well over
100 texts, articles and papers, the course was taught for ten years and this has
provided the basis of this book.
Now to the book itself, one of the early challenges was to decide where to
start the storyline historically. As the book focusses on the North American
industry, should the narrative start in 1776, or reach back to earlier times?
Given that the first settlers arrived mainly from the British Isles and brought
with them skills and traditions of their trades acquired over the centuries, then
it seemed more logical to start at a time when those skills and traditions were
first formulated. This led back to a point in European history when it was in
recovery from the dark ages of the 1st Century AD, around 1000 AD, usually
referred to as the medieval period. This was a time of significant building activ-
ity, especially on the ecclesiastical and defense fronts, that led to the develop-
ment of a framework for design and construction that formed the foundation
of today’s practices.
The book includes a brief chapter on building in classical times to recognize
the achievements of the main European/Mediterranean civilizations which were
ultimately lost during the dark ages. This also brings the focus of the book closer
to others that deal with architectural and engineering design history.
Preface xiii
Thereafter the book follows relevant developments in Great Britain leading
up to the establishment of the American colonies and the new republic of the
United States. In most periods a standard analytical framework is used to describe
design and construction activity, which allows the reader to follow one of more
of these subtitles as they move from one period to the next. Reference Table 0.1
below.
Interest in construction history as a research discipline has led to the estab-
lishment of a Construction History Society in the United Kingdom in 1982 and
attracted a handful of adherents in the United States. A few of us decided to
form a sister Society here and this was incorporated in 2007 as the Construction
History Society of America (CHSA), which has been active since then. The
Society holds meetings, publishes a Journal and acts as a forum for all with a wide
interest in the subject of construction history.
Most chapters include one or more “sidebars” which are short pieces that sup-
plement the main narrative for further reading on People, e.g. Benjamin Latrobe;
Projects, e.g. the Erie Canal; Activities, e.g. Philadelphia Housing Development
1790–1850, and the like. In addition each chapter includes texts recommended
for further reading. It is also worth mentioning the proliferation of videos on You
Tube and other sources that deal with aspects of historic construction and design;
most of them are well produced and very informative.
Table 0.1 T
he standard analytical framework used to describe design and
construction activity
The words “construction” and “building” are used interchangeably, as are “client”
and “owner”.
The construction industry is awash in acronyms. Here are some used in this
text:
DOI: 10.1201/9781003130000-1
2 Overview of the Construction Industry Today
Nonetheless Mr. Lange, in titling his book, recognized general usage and we will
continue to reference it as an industry.
Some Statistics
First, the industry is huge. In 2020 it is estimated to surpass $1.3 trillion in the
current value of construction put-in-place.1 Although no one seems to agree on
its contribution to the GNP, estimates vary from 5% to 8%.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2019 that approximately 6 million
people were employed in construction crafts and as labor and a further 2 million
in supervisory and design positions. To this must be added all those in manufac-
turing and support professions (attorneys, accountants, etc.), that draw their live-
lihoods from construction activity. Conceivably the labor count may not include
undocumented workers, whose ubiquitous presence on construction sites is very
roughly estimated at 1 million, mostly in the residential sector.
While very large, the industry is heavily fragmented and this will be addressed
later. However, it does have two major fault lines dividing the industry into three
fairly distinct sectors:
• Residential Buildings
• Non-Residential Buildings
• Civil/infrastructure Construction
These tend to be discrete with little mobility of design and construction resources
between them, although they do share certain classes of labor and the use of such
basic materials as cement or wood or steel. Architects tend to be concentrated in
the Non- Residential sector and contractors (general and trade) usually specialize
in only one of them. Table 1.1 provides further definition of the composition of
each sector.
Two important sub-sectors imbedded in this classification are, first,
Alterations, Renovations & Repairs, and second, Heavy Industrial construction
Industry Characteristics
Nineteen characteristics define the construction industry that make it very dis-
tinctive from other sectors of the economy. Many of these are being challenged
now and this current activity will be addressed later.
1. Cyclical Demand
The industry is susceptible to extreme swings in economic activity. Sectors within
the industry are well known for the tendency to over-build. A trend develops a
need in, for example, hotels at a particular location. Developers are attracted to
the opportunity and eventually build too many hotel rooms. Building of hotels
draws to a halt and none are built for another five or ten years. Any contrac-
tor or designer specializing only in hotels suffers. This leads companies to diver-
sify across many facility types and tends to inhibit the benefits that come from
specialization.
In other words, clients want their projects built where it makes sense for their own
interests, not those of the designer or contractor. This is probably one of the most
significant characteristics that separates the construction industry from all other
producing sectors.
4 Overview of the Construction Industry Today
3. Semi-Industrialized Status
For the most part, construction remains a craft-based undertaking with much
of the final product being assembled on site. Large sections of the industry are,
however, highly industrialized, such as for window glass or wallboard production.
Other elements rely increasingly on off-site prefabrication, which is a feature
being used now by designers and contractors to improve productivity.
4. Low Capitalization
The capital investment needs of construction companies are limited to tools
and equipment and for designers, IT and office equipment, all of which may be
leased annually or project by project, making it an easy industry to enter from this
aspect. Ultimately growing contracting companies will need to build up working
capital in order to secure bonds, and design companies will have the same needs
to finance their receivables (outstanding payments from clients).
The corollary of such easy entry is the speed with which companies fold
when little capital is available to weather difficult markets or explore new ones.
Bankruptcy levels in construction are probably one of the highest of any sector in
the country, although no reliable statistics seem to be available.
6. Highly Fragmented
Everyone familiar with the industry is well aware of this phenomena – the numer-
ical dominance of small entities. There are perhaps 850,000 businesses operating
in the industry, and it is a reasonable assumption that two-thirds of these employ
less than four people.
Each year the Engineering News Record tabulates the top US Contractors,
Designers and Owners and includes, among other data, their volume of construc-
tion put-in-place (contractors), or revenues earned (designers), during the year.
For 2019 the market share for the top companies in each category was:
Note
1. Bureau of Census. Figure excludes land acquisition, furniture, fittings and equip-
ment and general maintenance and repairs, but does include major repairs and
replacements.
Further Reading
Bureau of Census, www.census.gov. Construction statistics.
Excellent source of data on construction put-in-place over time.
Bureau of Labor, www.bls.gov. Construction labor statistics: NAICS 23.
Another good source on employment over time.
Cassimatis, Peter J. 1969. Economics of the Construction Industry. New York: The
Conference Board.
Dated of course but a brilliant “unpacking” of the industry of that time.
Engineering News-Record, www.enr.com
About the only magazine that covers the bulk of the industry. Its annual reports on Top companies
in each field are scattered through the year.
Liebing, Ralph. 2001. The Construction Industry – Processes, Players and Practices. Upper
Saddle River NJ: Prentice Hall.
Useful but dated and restricted to non-residential facilities.
2 Classical Times
This chapter starts a voyage of discovery and exploration into the evolution of
today’s industry. While the efforts of early humans to establish civilizations are
fascinating to trace, an examination of this period will not contribute much to
our own story of the American construction industry, so the coverage will be
brief. It should be noted however that this period is fundamental in the study of
architectural history and to some extent, engineering history. For readers inter-
ested in learning more, a list of texts is appended at the end of this chapter.
Three projects in each of Egypt, Greece and Rome are touched on briefly to
illustrate construction activity at the time.
Egypt
The kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt developed along the Nile River around
3,000 BC. Shortly thereafter royal tombs were under construction, culminating
in the famous Khufu Pyramid, the biggest of them all, which was completed in
2528 BC (Figure 2.1).
Conceivably more has been written about this structure than any other on earth,
largely because no records survive, even if there were any and this has led to much
speculation on how it was built. On the face of it, it is just a pile of stones, but what
a pile: 53,000 m2 at the base, 146.6 m high, 2.3 million stone blocks each averaging
2 tons. It required substantial surveying and layout skills, plus a formidable labor
force culminating by one estimate (Smith) at 25,000. The builders had sources of
limestone quarried close to the Nile, copper for tools, hemp for ropes, some wood
and lots of water. What they did not have was iron, animal power for hauling,
wheels or pulleys. The best estimate of the time to completion is 23 years, derived
from the date of Khufu’s accession to his death. Theories of the techniques that
were used to haul and position the stones are varied widely and include:
Greece
There is more information about building in the Greek city states than elsewhere
at this time. As the civilization grew mature (c.750 BC) the Greeks appeared to
be obsessed with keeping records and these were engraved on stone steles, many
of which have survived to this day. This has allowed scholars to research issues
from the mundane to the substantive.
About 50 years ago Alison Burford wrote up her examination of the building
work on a temple at Epidauros (Figure 2.2). It is an amazing piece of scholarship
from which we can determine:
• the building program (temple, cult statue, clinic, hostel, gym, 15,000 seat
amphitheater)
• the schedule (370–250 BC)
• the cost (150–300 talents
• the contracts (about 80 in all)
Of these, for our purpose the contract details are of particular interest and include:
The amazing thing about this form of contract is how close it is to the clauses that
are seen in contracts today, 2,300 years later.
One last comment relates to the word architekton, certainly the root of the
word architect we use today, but the original Greek implied more of a technical
function that of design. Burford found that architekton were paid 1 drachma per
day versus 4 drachma paid to the cult sculptor.
Rome
The Romans were vigorous builders and not just in Rome itself. To hold their
vast empire together, over 40,000 miles of roads were constructed and every city
settlement was serviced by aqueducts to bring fresh water.
Strangely however, we know less about their approach to design and construc-
tion than we do of other ancient civilizations. Much documentation must have
been lost during the long disintegration of the western empire (300–450 AD),
especially as most contracts were written on papyrus or parchment.
Classical Times 13
We do know however that architects became more versatile, as evidenced by
Vitruvius’s writings, although he sheds no light on their management functions
or the contractual terms under which they worked. Construction was performed
under contract, just four of which survive. The contractors seemed to be members
of the publicani, individuals or family concerns that took contracts for any kind of
work for the state including building.
The contracts that survive include much the same clauses as the Greek ver-
sions: price, time, basis of payment, inspection, surety, etc. One of them, for a
country villa, had an unusual payment clause whereby the final contract amount
would be determined by the number of roofing tiles installed.
In keeping with the approach for Egypt and Greece, a suitable project to
study Roman constructing abilities would be the Pantheon (Figure 2.3). It
was built in 113–125 AD and presented an enormous challenge – a 142 ft
diameter dome, 142 ft high. This would not have been possible if the Romans
had not stumbled over the use of a volcanic ash (pozzolana) with lime and sea
water to create an hydraulic cement of great strength. Experts have argued
for years on how the Romans used centering/formwork to cast the dome. For
a good review of the theories read Rabun Taylor’s book (pp. 190–211) refer-
enced below.
By about 350 AD the Western Roman Empire, which had separated from the
Eastern Byzantine portion, was overrun and a period known as the Dark Ages
References
Anderson, James C. 1977. Roman Architecture and Society. Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins
University Press.
Burford, Alison. 1969. The Greek Temple Builders at Epidaurus. Liverpool: Liverpool
University Press.
Rowland, Ingrid D. & Howe, T.N. 1999. Vitruvius, Ten Books on Architecture. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Smith, Craig. 2004. How the Great Pyramid Was Built. Washington DC: Smithsonian
Books.
Taylor, Rabun. 2003. Roman Builders: A Study in Architectural Process. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
3 Medieval Times – The
Foundation of the Industry
Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th Centuries
AD, Europe descended into the so-called Dark Ages. There followed a loss of
continuity in Western Europe in the considerable talents of the Romans and
Greeks in the building arts. In some cases, it would be centuries before some of
those skills (concrete, for instance) returned. Historians are now claiming the
period was not so dark after all and that it saw many technological innovations,
such as the improvement of the plow and the introduction of the padded horse
collar. Both led to an increase in agricultural productivity which was an essential
precursor to sustained population growth and stability. There was of course much
building at this time, particularly of Romanesque churches and of monasteries,
but the techniques used were relatively simple in comparison with what was to
follow. Building skills were in short supply. For instance Charlemagne had much
difficulty in finding enough masons to build his palace in Aachen in the 8th C.
Starting in the late 11th C. there began a sudden surge of building largely
focused on ecclesiastical facilities of all kinds. This chapter will examine the fac-
tors that initiated this and follow its progress to the middle of the 14th C. This is
an important period in that the foundations of the European construction indus-
try, especially in France, Italy and England, are laid at this time. At the same
time much construction activity was expended on defensive works – castles and
fortifications of all kinds, but in the interests of brevity, this chapter focuses on
religious building design and construction.
So what led to this outburst of energy that resulted in hundreds of cathedrals
and thousands of churches, chapels and monasteries being built?
DOI: 10.1201/9781003130000-3
16 Medieval Times
saw the growth of cities, the rise of international trade and a merchant class.
It provided an economic base from which the expansion could be financed.
• Church establishment. By this time the Church was becoming institution-
alized and was strongly controlled by the papacy. Gregory VII (1073–85)
(Figure 3.1) fought to free the Church from secular control with some suc-
cess. Over the period 1100–1270 seven crusades were launched, many return-
ing with precious relics that needed to be housed appropriately. As will be
noted later, the Church also devised some ingenious methods of fund-raising,
much of which was used to keep the building frenzy going.
• Competition. Once the cycle of building got under way, competition between
towns and cities, each striving to outdo the other, made sure it would con-
tinue, with egregious over-building the result. The city of Amiens built a
cathedral (Figure 3.2) large enough (200,000 ft2) to hold its entire population
of 10,000.
The center of this activity was initially in France, England and Flanders, fol-
lowed by Italy, Germany and Spain. Some random statistics (see Table 3.1) give
evidence to the extent of what followed up to about 1340.
Following the analytical framework introduced earlier in the book, how all
this was achieved will be examined. For this purpose it is fortunate that so much
scholarship and research has been directed at this period of history. The key ref-
erence books used are listed at the end of the chapter.
18 Medieval Times
Table 3.1 Some features of the medieval surge in building
France England
a. Decision to Build
Most of the reasons for starting construction have been previously listed. However
it is worth examining how several of the cathedrals covered in the Kraus book
were initiated (see Figure 3.3):
b. Financing
It is impossible to establish how much was spent on ecclesiastical construction
over this period, but whatever it was, it was considerable. One estimate (Gimpel)
believes that one-third of all church revenues were devoted to the “fabric”, that is,
to building. Nor do we have any complete records of the cost of building any one
structure. John James, an Australian architect who devoted much of his career
to studying French medieval ecclesiastical building and in particular Chartres
Cathedral, calculated an equivalent 1972 cost of building this at $50 million
(probably $150 million today), which seems impossibly low.
The economy at this time was based on cash and barter transactions. Long
term loans and mortgages were practically unknown. It was therefore necessary to
raise cash for the building works and the sources were many. Interesting absentees
were the papacy, the Crown and the bishops, who only seem to have contributed
in difficult times.
Local Community
The burghers, burgesses and local merchants were the primary source and were
relentlessly pursued by the clerics. They gave generously in most cases, especially
Medieval Times 19
Diocese
All in the community were also subject to a wide and ingenious system of fines
and fees devised by the diocese:
Interestingly, no feudal labor was expected to be granted, nor was there any
pressure for free labor as a gift to God. Gifts of materials were accepted and the
stone and wood used were often sourced from quarries and forests that had been
bequeathed to the bishopric.
A piece of formidable scholarship on the subject of financing cathedral build-
ing is included in a book by Wim Vroom, Financing Cathedral Building in the
Middle Ages (2010). The author had access to many original accounting and other
records largely from the 15th and 16th Centuries, and deals with the sources of
finance in great detail in its 700 pages.
Medieval Times 21
c. Design
When most of us look at any of the extraordinary creations from this period, we
make the automatic assumption that there must have been a grand master design
produced before the work began. Logical though this seems, this was not in fact
the case. Certainly some idea of size, footprint and configuration must have been
established, even if no such document or drawing has survived, but no conceptual
design was prepared as we would understand it today.
No architect in the modern sense existed and the master design had to have
been created by a combination of the clergy and the master masons, with the details
being left to the latter to devise as the work proceeded, which was of course carried
out over a long period of time. The better masons must have had a sound grasp of
basic geometry and mathematics. Much was also learned from the frequent col-
lapses that occurred – today we only view the remaining successful structures.
22 Medieval Times
As the period proceeded many of the master masons became kind of proto-ar-
chitects,2 specializing in managing the work of design, procurement of mate-
rials and labor and directing construction. Very few drawings have survived3
(Figure 3.5). Parchment (Figure 3.6) and vellum were expensive and were used
Figure 3.5 Plan for new monastery, St. Gallen, Switzerland. Late 9th Century AD.
Medieval Times 23
several times. Of the 3,000 or so drawings from the period that have survived, not
one of them includes any dimensions. Clearly the intent was to show a general
impression of design with the details to be worked out on site. There is evidence
of models being used to communicate design intent and a further technique was
the use of tracing floors. These were essentially large spaces on site where a design
for say, a tracery window, could be traced on a temporary plaster screed, allowing
each stone to be carved and fitted loosely in place. Two of these survive, at York
Minister (Figure 3.7) and Bruges.
24 Medieval Times
There was much mimetic design and this was perpetuated by the mobil-
ity of the masons, who carried their own sense of style and broadcast design
approaches being used elsewhere. This brings us to another design issue: the
mason’s templates used as a guide for carving stone. Each mason had his
own distinctive “signature”, and if you wish to know more about this, read
Sidebar 3.1 concerning the researches of John James on Chartres Cathedral
and other churches.
d. Construction
Construction activity is well illustrated in Figures 3.8 and 3.9. A further good
point of reference on construction is the David Macauley book which includes
excellent graphics on the building of the fictitious Cathedral of Chutreaux. Of
particular interest are the flying buttresses to carry the lateral thrusts down to the
foundations and the use of the pointed arch providing greater flexibility than the
previous Roman semi-circular version.
Construction was carried out by separate trades under the supervision of either
a master mason or master carpenter, which were the two main crafts involved in
building. The other key trades were the laborers, carters, smiths, tilers, slaters,
plumbers, plasterers, glaziers and painters.4
The masons were classified as either masters, free-masons,5 carvers, layers/
setters/wallers, or quarriers. The carpenters were either masters, rough carpenters,
joiners or sawyers (always in pairs).
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Red Mesa
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.
Language: English
BY
WARREN H. MILLER
AUTHOR OF
“THE BLACK PANTHER OF THE NAVAHO,”
“THE RING-NECKED GRIZZLY,” ETC.