INTERNATIONAL TRENDS IN ARCHITECTURE: NEW MATERIALS AND NEW TECHNOLOGY IN ARCHITECTURE

In, Pre-19th century use of materials in design to have been subordinate to issues in function and form. The role of materials changed dramatically with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. Beginning in the 19th century with the widespread introduction of steel, leading to the emergence of long-span and high-rise building forms. The industrialization of glass-making coupled with developments in environmental systems enabled the ‘international style’ in which a transparent architecture could be sited in any climate and in any context. The broad proliferation of curtain wall systems allowed the disconnection of the facade material from the building’s structure and infrastructure, freeing the material choice from utilitarian functions so that the façade, become a purely formal element.