LECTURE NOTE ARC 853 (INDUSTRIAL ARCHITECTURE I)

DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ARCHITECTURE

Industrial architecture (I.A) is an umbrella term used to describe buildings constructed to facilitate
the needs of industries. I.A encompasses a range of building types and styles that mix functionality
and design. I.A emerged during the 1st stage of Industrial revolution that took place in England.
These early industrial facilities were built as efficiently as possible using timber and masonry units
as building materials. What we consider today as I.A is largely based on buildings from the 2 nd
stage of industrial revolution which was brought about by the introduction of new building
materials such as steel and concrete. These new materials helped to make industrial structures safer
and more efficient for workers. Many architects are recently prioritizing sustainability in factory
designs.
Difference between Industry and Factory - Industry is the production of economic goods and
services while Factory is a place where goods and services are produced/manufactured or
rendered.
Industrial Archaeology – is the organised study of the physical remains of past industries,
especially of the last 200years. It is a sub-field of archaeology that uses systematic fieldwork,
supplemented by historical records, to survey, record, and in some cases, preserve industrial
artifacts, especially those associated with the technological developments of the industrial
revolution.
Industrial Management- is concerned with the management of manufacturing enterprises. The
term includes such specialised areas of management responsibility as industrial relations,
marketing and production management. Some definitions restrict the area of industrial
management to the management of production process.
A production process is a process that transforms an input of capital, labour, and raw materials
into a physical product. The primary objective of industrial management is to perform this
transformation as efficiently as possible.
Industrial Engineering- is a branch both of engineering and of industrial management concerned
with the analysis of the processes of production and the design of methods for making them more
efficient. An analysis of the production process might include the design of the sequence of
production operations- design the plant facilities, establish work standards and quality control
procedures.
Characteristics of Industrial Architecture

1. Industrial buildings tend to have open floor plans and high headroom

2. I.A tends to follow the philosophy of modern architecture by prioritizing functionality over
aesthetics

3. Exposed steel columns and beams or floors are commonly found inside factories
4. I.A makes efficient use of natural light through large-grid windows

Architects who masterfully tackled industrial design-

1. Buckminster Fuller- famous for his Geodesic dome structures

2. Alvar Aalto – 3. Norman Foster

4. Zaha Hadid 5. Louis Sullivan – father of skyscrapers

6. Peter Behrens 7. Walter Gropius

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
The term Industrial revolution describes the historical transformation of traditional into modern
societies by industrialisation of the economy. The main defining feature of the revolution was
dramatic economic advancement made possible by the mechanisation of manufacturing and other
processes that were carried out in factories. Industrial revolution (I.R) was also a period of major
industrialisation and innovation during the 1700s and early 1800s. I.R began in Great Britain and
quickly spread throughout the world. Industrialisation is the process by which an economy is
transformed from a primarily agricultural one to one based on the manufacturing of goods, manual
labour replaced by mechanised means. Industrialisation marked a shift to special-purpose
machinery, factories and mass production.

Industry was taken out of the home and mini-workshops, works done with hand were replaced by
machinery. Great factories emerged and was managed by skilled labour which changed the way
of life of the people.

Characteristics of Industrialisation

1. Economic growth- more efficient division of labour, use of technological innovation to solve
problems
2. Industrialisation transforms an economy to mass production/manufacturing economy.
3. Industrialisation is usually associated with increase in total income and living standards in a
society.
 First phase/stage of Industrial revolution (I.R)
Before the advent of the I.R, life for the average person was challenging, as incomes were meager.
Farming was the most important occupation of all the people. The farmer grew his own food,
clothing and some implements were made at home from wool and wood, leather was produced on
the farm.
England took the lead in this 1st phase as some of the changes began in England with increase in
production. I.R appeared first in the cotton, pottery and iron industries. The industries used
processes which could be broken down into simple routine motions by machines, to produce goods
which were widely used. The force that brought science and money together was probably the
growing demand for the conveniences of life. Eg brick houses (built newly) in a community made
other home owners dissatisfied with the timber or wattle (i.e. interwoven sticks and twigs) as
building materials.
Effects of the 1st phase of I.R
1. National income of countries (especially Great Britain) increased in that period
2. Changes in industry enriched the people and standards of comfort rose for people
3. Building of factories led to the rapid growth of cities
4. Housing constructed by speculative builders were poorly planned
5. When large number of people came into cities to work, wage scales were cut. Thus, living and
wage standards were abnormally low.
6. Women and children were drawn into factories, competing with men, as factory owners
benefitted from the desperate plight of workers.
7. Trade unions began in England about 1790 to fight this competition. The first factory Act of
1803 removed children from factories and limited the hours during which people might work.
8. Protection of workers against industrial accidents got attention.

Second phase/stage of Industrial revolution (I.R)

A. Advances in communication
 Invention of telephone brought about the possibility of immediate conversation
 Telegraph and cable lines were laid
 Wireless telegraph which immediately became of great service to ships at sea was
developed
 Vacuum tube was invented which made radio possible.
 Television broadcasting began, thus medium of mass communication came to be.
B. Advances in transportation
 Rail transportation was developed and improved upon
 Sailing ships were replaced with steamships (sailing ship is a wind-powered vessel,
steamship is a vessel that is propelled by one or more steam engines).
 Canals were opened to make seaways more effective (canal is an artificial waterway that
connects places)
 The improvement in transportation brought land areas within the reach of markets. This
made supply of goods from factories to get different parts of the world
C. Advances in Science, machine/machine tools
 Scientist brought about electricity generation and transmission. Electric motors took the
place of the steam engine in many factories.
 Science developed a number of synthetic materials for the service of mankind; such as
cement, gasoline, glass, rubber, plastic etc.
 Typewriters, watches, automobiles, clocks, etc could be made by automatic machine tools
with accuracy which reduced wear and tear.
 Machines created technological unemployment, but still created jobs in the factories.
 Goods were produced at lesser time and lower prices which in turn improved the standards
of living for the people.
All these gave rise to industrial architecture. Since the architect needs to design spaces for the
industrial processes to take place
Advantages of Industrial revolution (I.R)
1. I.R created increase in employment opportunities, wages of factories were higher than what
individuals were making as subsistence farmers.
2. With the location of factories near the cities, populations migrated to urban areas in search of
jobs, often overwhelming the available housing supply. This led to significant improvement in city
planning
3. I.R led to higher levels of motivation and education with great inventions such as anesthesia,
light bulb, x-ray, etc
4. I.R gave rise to labour unions who fought for improved working condition and wages
5. Improvements in transportation networks.
Disadvantages of Industrial revolution (I.R)
1. As workers left farms to work in factories for higher wages, it led to shortage of food production.
2. Factories dumped wastes into water bodies.
3. Increase in number of factories led to an increase in urban pollution.
4. Living conditions became deplorable as the urban resources were overwhelmed.