English Gothic Architecture

English Gothic Architecture flourished in England around 1180 to about 1520. This form of architecture was known for arches, vaulted roofs, buttresses, large windows, and spires. The gothic style was introduced from France and had evolved from Romanesque architecture. Castles, palaces, great houses, universities, almshouses, and trade halls where mostly designed in a gothic style.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Gothic_architecture

Ancient Egyptian Architecture

Since egyptians didn't have much wood for them to use as materials, they used sun-baked mud brick and stones; such as limestone, sandstone, and granite. Stone was reserved for tombs and temples, while bricks were mainly used for royal palaces, fortresses, the walls of temple boundaries, and towns. Ancient Egyptian houses were made out of mud collected from the Nile river. It was placed in molds and left to dry in the hot sun to harden for use in construction. Since the buildings didn't have that strong of a foundation, most of the egyptian buildings where either washed away by the Nile river, or where used by the peasants as fertilizer. Exterior and interior walls, as well as the columns and piers, were covered with hieroglyphic and pictorial frescoes and carvings painted in brilliant colors. Hieroglyphs were inscribed for decorative purposes as well as to record historic events or spells. These carvings allow us to understand how the Ancient Egyptians lived, statuses, wars that were fought and their beliefs. This was especially true when exploring the tombs of Ancient Egyptian officials in recent years.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_architecture

Ancient Roman Architecture

Ancient Romans used hydraulics and the influence of the Greeks and Phoenician while constructing their buildings. Their use of the arch and the use of concrete and bricks facilitated the building of the many aqueducts throughout the empire. They used mostly domes as their buildings because it gave a open public spacing such as baths and basilicas. For housing the Romans where very concerned with public hygiene. Their baths had under-floor heating which piped hot and cold water. Romans also built multi-story apartment called insulae. The cheapest and darkest rooms were at the bottom; the lightest and most desirable at the top. Windows were mostly small, facing the street, with iron security bars. Insulae's were often dangerous, unhealthy, and prone to fires because of overcrowding and haphazard cooking arrangements.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Roman_architecture

Romans and Concrete

Early architecture began in ancient Rome where the Romans started making concrete more than 2,000 years ago. The concrete they used is around ten times weaker then the concrete we use today. Their main ingredient was volcanic ash, while we use a mix of a lime-based cement, water, sand and gravel.The Romans also used seawater in their mixture.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Secrets-of-Ancient-Romes-Buildings.html

Termites

Termites have infested Carolina and are eating everything and anything that is wood. Two major types of subterranean termites found in South Carolina, including native species but also the Formosan bug. The Formosans arrived in Charleston in the mid-1950s, hidden in ships' cargo from Asia. After Hurricane Hugo trees and blown over wood structures shifted inland causing the termites to spread there. After the housing boom termites began changing their food source to family homes; tearing away until there was nothing else left for a family to live under.


http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20100429/PC1602/304299888

911

When the American Airlines boeing 767 crashed into the north tower it left a gaping, burning hole near the 80th floor of the 110 story skyscraper. 18 minutes later the second Boeing 767- Untied Airlines Flight 175 sharply turned to the 2nd tower and sliced into the 60th floor.  The structural steel of the skyscraper, built to withstand winds in excess of 200 miles per hour and a large conventional fire, could not withstand the tremendous heat generated by the burning jet fuel. At 10:30 a.m., the other Trade Center tower collapsed.



http://www.history.com/topics/9-11-attacks

Skyscrapers background info

Modern skyscrapers are built with steel or reinforced concrete frameworks and curtain walls of glass or polished stone. Water pumps and elevators  where used as mechanical equipment during ancient times. In 1852 Elisha Otis introduced the safety elevator, allowing safe passenger movement to upper floors. The use of a steel frame instead of stone or brick, lead to an early development designed by Peter Ellis in 1864 which was the world's first iron-framed, glass curtain-walled office building, that was only 5 floors high. Most early skyscrapers developed in the areas of Chicago, London, and New York toward the end of the 19th century. Today modern skyscrapers are built with steel or reinforced concrete frameworks and curtain walls of glass or polished stone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyscraper#History

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/plaintexthistories.asp?paragraphid=dor

Buildings first started in Greek cities on the coast of Turkey around 200 BC when cement became a structure material. Before cement, people were using gypsum plaster (used in Egypt) or bitumen (in Mesopotamia) to construct their buildings. The Romans used ground volcanic lava in place of clay, Their cement is the strongest mortar in history until the development of Portland cement. There are three architectural forms from the 1st century BC: The Dome, The Temples, and The Arch. All these form of buildings shared a common thing of concrete.