Chronography of the Built Environment
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modified 19/10//2021
�Perfection
(in design) is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but rather when
there is nothing more to take away.� Antoine
de Saint-Exup�ry
See also Road Construction
See below for Architects, planners, landscape gardeners, designers
1983, The term Sick Building Syndrome was first used, both for the building itself
that apparently was causing its occupants to suffer headaches, nausea, dizziness,
breathing problems, and also the illness of the people themselves. It ewas
related to air coinditrioned inadequately ventilated sealed buildings with
chemicals in the air from e.g. cleaning products.
1972, First use of the term gentrification, to convert previously
run-down inner city property into more upmarket accommodation. The term usually
had negative connotations of destruction of working class culture.
1972, The term sink estate appeared, to describe socially deprived
neigjhbourhoods, also schools in these areas were termed sink schools.
12/11/1968. One thousand people attended the first public meeting of the Greater London
Council. Ideas discussed included a monorail down Oxford Street by 1972 and an �end to the architecture
of totalitarianism�. The Milton Keynes Development Corporation announced that
the first blueprint for the new city would be available by February 1969.
22/7/1963, In Britain,
a commission into slum housing was set up.
1953, The term �pedestrian precinct� came into use, for
an area of town, usually a shoppoing area, where cars were exscluded. By 1963
there were streets being �pedestrianised�,
i.e. banned to cars where they could formerly be driven. An earlier usage in
New or Planned Towns was the term �precinct�,
for a local system of minor roads that could only be accessed at one point from
a major feeder road, so precluding rat running.
12/12/1951, The geodesic
dome was patented by Richard Buckminster Fuller in New York, USA.(see
also Buckminsterfullerene)
29/1/1927. In London the Park Lane Hotel opened, the first with en-suite bathrooms.
Smaller
livng spaces,
1982, The term cardboard city was first used for the
areas where many homeless people slept near each other at night, in malkeshift
cardbpoard shelters. The phenomenon became increasingly common in Western
cities as the neoliberal economic
policies of Thatcherism and Reaganism began to bite upon the poor.
1974, The studio flat had come to mean a tiny flat with just one room. In the
1930s it mean a spacious flat with a large window, suitable for an artist.
1953, The term slumlord first used in the USA,
although the term slum landlord� was first recorded in 1893. In thye UK the
term Rachmanism appeared in 1963,
derived from Peter
Rachman (1916-62), a London landlord who bought up properties that were
cheap because they were rent-controlled under the 1957 Rent Act. He then used
blackmail and physical intimidation to evict the tenants, and either resold it
at a large profit or installed new tenants not on controlled rents.
30/4/1944, Pre-fabricated houses went on show in
London. 500,000 of them were planned as temporary housing for those who had lost
their homes to Luftwaffe bombs.
1933, The British middle classes could no
longer afford a live-in servant, and the �daily� appeared, a cleaner who lived
off-premises and came in for a few hours a day or week. See also Hygiene,
new domestic electrical appliances.
1930, The term �dinette� appeared, for a small dining
area off the main living room of a house, Typically this room was only just
large enough to accommodate a medium-sized dining table, the chairs, and maybe
a sideboard.
1925, The term �flatlet� for a very small flat of just
2 or even 1 rooms was coined. Larger houses were being subdividided into flatlets. Rentals were cheap. At about
the same time the �put-u-up� sofa or
settee that converyted into a bed appeared as a brand name; later this term
became the generic �put-you-up�.
1921, The term �penthouse� came to mean a flat on the
roof of a tall building. It had previously meant a lean-to structure at the
side of a larger building.
Suburbanisation,
New Towns
29/11/1968, In Britain, Telford new town was designated.
23/1/1967, Milton
Keynes was inaugurated as a New Town.
12/1/1967, Plans were announced for a new city at Milton Keynes.
1932, The Green Belt was instituted in Britain, to prevent the growth of huge
conurbations. The first one was around London.
1/5/1928. Ebenezer Howard, founder of the New Towns
movement, knighted in 1927, of Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City, died in the
latter town.
1927, The term �ribbon development� for a single line
of houses built along a road leading out of a toiwn or village, came into use;
siuch development had become prevalent in the UK after World War One. It was
inefficient use of land and was legislated against.
1926, The term �Metroland� came into use, to denote an
area of suburbanisation of ther counbtryside in the districts served by
London�s Metropolitan Railway northwest of the city.
1918, First usage in Britain of
the term �New Town�, for a planned
new urban area near an older city.
1904, Fitrst known usage of the
term �city centre� (by George Bernard
Shaw), as a term for the central part of a city where residential
use was uneconomic. It only came into general usage in the 1950s.
1905, First use of the term Garden Suburb, a development from Ebenezer
Howard�s Garden City
(first used 1898), later Garden Town
(from 1915).
Development
of very tall buildings
31/12/2004, The world�s tallest skyscraper, Taipei 101,
508 metres or 1.676 feet tall, was opened.
7/12/1961, The London County Council approved the
building of 300-foot high blocks of flats at Hammersmith, the tallest in
Britain.
1954, The term �high-rise� was introduced for very
tall blocks of flats, which, between the 1950s and 1970s, were considered a
good way to house less-well-off households. The opposite term, low-rise, came into use form 1957,
signifying residential blocls of bewtween 2 and 5 storeys.
1/5/1931. The
Empire State Building was opened by President Hoover in New York. 102 storeys and
1,245 feet high, it had a 220 foot TV antenna added in 1950. This total height
of 1,472 feet was reduced to 1,454 feet when the antenna was replaced in 1985.
In 2001 the world�s tallest building was the�
Twin Petronas Towers in
Malaysia, 1,483 feet high.
1900, First use of the term �ferro-concrete�;
later superseded by �reinforced concrete� (term in common usage from
1902), which became a major building material of the 20th century.
15/3/1892. The world�s first �escalator� was installed at Coney Island, New York. This
had a continuous sloping surface. It was called the �Reno inclined
elevator�.� The American inventor Charles A
Wheeler patented the first escalator with flat steps on
2/8/1892.
31/3/1889. The
300 metre Eiffel Tower was completed, in time for the Universal
Exhibition in Paris,
and opened by Premier
Tirard on 6/5/1889..� Many
people said it was ugly.
6/10/1887, Le Corbusier, who promoted the idea of a house
as a �machine for living�, was born in Switzerland.
16/7/1867, Joseph Monier of Paris patented reinforced concrete.
1/4/1867. In Paris, the World Fair
opened. The first
hydraulic lift was demonstrated by the engineer Edoux, and Japanese art was on
show in the West for the first time.
8/4/1861, Elisha Graves Otis, American inventor of the first safe
elevator in 1852, died in Yonkers, New York.
1860, The floor covering,
linoleum, was invented in England by Frederick Walton.
23/8/1859, The first hotel elevator was installed in the 6
storey building of Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York.
1854, Otis, to demonstrate the safety
of his lift, had himself hoisted in one and then had the liuft cable cut. As he
began to plunge to earth, the safety ratchets engaged and he stepped out
unharmed.
23/3/1857, The
first passenger lift was installed by Elisha
Otis in a department store, in the 5-storey building of E V Haughwout and
Co on Broadway, New York. The elevator system cost US$ 300.
20/9/1853,
Elisha
Graves Otis opened a factory in New York State for the production of
the first modern lifts.
16/9/1847, Shakespeare�s birthplace in Stratford on Avon
was purchased by the specially-formed Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. This was one of the first buildings
acquired purely for preservation.
25/3/1843. The first tunnel under the Thames, the 1300
foot Wapping Tunnel, linking Wapping and Rotherhithe, opened. Work had begun on
2/3/1825.
1842, Engineer John A Roebling
invented wire rope. This proved
indispensable for constructions such as New York�s Brooklyn Bridge.
15/12/1832, Gustave Eiffel, French engineer who designed
the Eiffel Tower, built for the Paris Exhibition of 1889, was born in Dijon.
21/10/1824, Portland
Cement was patented by Joseph Aspdin of Wakefield, Yorkshire.
11/12/1769, In London, venetian
blinds were patented by Edward Beran.
1738, The caisson, a device essential for building bridges and underwater
tunnels, was developed by Charles Dangeau de Labelye for building a bridge
over the Thames at Westminster.
1735, The first
machine-made carpets were produced, at Kidderminster.
1200, The flying buttress was developed to
support European Mediaeval churches. The tall roof of a large church would push
the walls outwards, collapsing it, without these supports providing a
counter-force to the walls.
Architects,
planners, landscape gardeners, designers
11/5/1976, Alvar Aalto, Finnish
architect,
died aged 78.
24/3/1971, Arne Jacobsen, Danish
architect,
died aged 69.
17/8/1969, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe,
architect,
died.
5/7/1969, Sir Walter Gropius, architect, founder of the Bauhaus
school of design, died.
27/8/1965. The Swiss architect Le Corbusier died.
9/4/1959, Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed New York�s
Guggenheim Museum, died aged 89.
22/9/1942, Ralph Adams Cram, US architect, died
7/7/1935, George Keller,
Irish-born US architect,
died aged 92
23/7/1933. Richard Rogers, architect who designed the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the Lloyds Building in London,
was born.
7/8/1929, James Pilditch, designer,
was born.
10/6/1926, Spanish
architect
Gaudi y
Cornet died. His most famous building is the Sagrada Familia
cathedral in Barcelona.
14/4/1924, Louis Sullivan, US architect, died in Chicago.
7/1/1908, Sir Frederick Gibberd, town planner who designed Harlow New
Town, was born (died 1984).� He also designed
Didcot power station (1968), the Intercontinental Hotel at Hyde Park Corner,
London (1975), Liverpool�s Catholic cathedral (1967), and the Regent�s Park
Mosque (1977).
21/10/1907, George Bodley, English architect, died in Water Eaton,
Oxford (born 1827).
8/7/1906, Philip Johnson, architect, was born in Cleveland,
Ohio.
21/1/1905, Christian Dior, French designer, was born in Granville.
21/5/1902, Marcel Lajos Breuer, architect, was born (died 1981)
11/2/1902, Arne Jacobsen, Danish architect, was born (died 1971)
20/2/1901, Louis Isadore Kahn, architect, was born (died 1974).
23/2/1900, William Butterfield, English architect,
died (born 1814).
30/10/1899, Sir Arthur Blomfield, English architect,
died (born 6/3/1829).
3/8/1898, Jean Garnier, French architect, died (born 6/11/1825).
11/1/1891, Baron Georges-Eugene Haussman, architect
who designed the broad straight boulevards of Paris, died in poverty. These
wider roads, built in the 1860s, made troop movements easier and made the building
of barricades by revolutionaries more difficult.
25/3/1888, William
Nesfield, British architect, died
(born 2/4/1835).
27/3/1886, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, architect, was born in Aachen,
Germany.
18/5/1883, Walter Adolf Georg Gropius, German architect,
was born.
9/11/1880, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, British architect,
was born.
19/4/1874, Owen Jones, British architect, died (born 1809).
8/1/1873, Harvey Corbett, US architect, was born in San
Francisco,
29/3/1869, Sir Edward Lutyens, British architect,
was born in London.
26/9/1867, Charles Fowler,
English architect,
died (born 26/9/1867)
25/3/1867, Jacques Hittorff, French architect, died (born 20/8/1792).
18/4/1867, John Smirke, who designed the fa�ade of the British
Museum, died.
8/6/1865, Sir Joseph Paxton, ornamental gardener and architect
who designed the Crystal Palace for the 1851 Great Exhibition, died.
20/10/1860, Walter Cope, US architect, was born in Pennsylvania.
12/5/1860, Sir Charles Barry, architect, died in Clapham, London
(born in London 23/5/1795).
20/12/1855, Thomas Cubitt, English builder, died (born
25/2/1788).
10/10/1853, Pierre Fontaine, French architect, died (born 20/9/1762).
14/9/1852, Lord Pugin,
co-designer
of the Houses of Parliament with Sir
Charles Barry, died at Ramsgate.
26/11/1847, Harvey Elmes, British architect, died (born 1813).
24/8/1847, Charles McKim,
US architect,
was born (died 14/9/1909).
15/4/1844, Charles
Bulfinch, US architect, died (born 8/8/1763).
20/1/1837, Sir Robert Soane, architect, died in London. He designed
the Bank of England building on Threadneedle Street.
13/5/1835, John Nash, architect of Regents Park and
Brighton Pavilion, died on the Isle of Wight. He had been commissioned by King George IV
to redevelop parts of London,
such as Trafalgar Square and Regent Street.
2/4/1835, William Nesfield, British architect, was born (died
25/3/1888).
14/8/1833, Luigi Cagnola, Italian architect, died (born 9/6/1762).
6/3/1829, Sir Arthur Blomfield, English architect,
was born (died 30/10/1899).
6/11/1825, Jean Garnier, French architect, was born (died 3/8/1898).
1821, The designer, Louis Vuitton, was born in Jura,
eastern France, to a farming family. At age 13 he walked to Paris and became
apprentice to a master trunk maker.
13/7/1811, Sir George Gilbert Scott, architect who designed the Albert Memorial and St Pancras Station, was born.
9/3/1808, Guiseppe Bonomi, English architect,
died in London (born in Rome 19/1/1739).
31/8/1801, Sir Joseph Paxton, architect of the Crystal Palace, was
born at Milton Bryant near Woburn, Bedfordshire.
23/5/1795, Birth of architect Sir Charles
Barry, who designed the Houses of Parliament in London
25/2/1788, Thomas Cubitt, English builder, was born (died
20/12/1855).
6/2/1783. English landscape gardener
Lancelot �Capability� Brown died.
Kew Gardens and Blenheim Palace are examples of his work.
9/7/1764, Louis Baltard, French architect, was born in Paris (died
in Paris 13/1/1874).
8/8/1763, Charles Bulfinch, US architect, was born (died
15/4/1844).
20/9/1762, Pierre Fontaine, French architect, was born (died
10/10/1853).
9/6/1762, Luigi Cagnola, Italian architect, was born (died
14/8/1833).
10/9/1753. Birth of architect Sir John Soane. He was born at Goring, near
Reading, the son of a mason, and in 1788 he became architect and surveyor to
the Bank of England. The new exterior he created for the Bank was regarded as
his most famous work. In 1806 he became Professor of Architecture at the Royal
Academy; he was knighted in 1831. His home at 13 Lincoln�s Inn Fields, which he
designed, was the setting for his art and antiques collection. He lived there
alone after his wife died in 1815; it is now the John Soane Museum. He also
designed the Dulwich College Picture Gallery in south London.
19/1/1739, Guiseppe Bonomi, English architect, was born in Rome (died in
London 9/3/1808).
17/1/1738, German architect, Matthaus Poppelman, died aged 74.
25/3/1736, Nicholas Hawksmoor, Emglish architect,
pupil of Christopher Wren, died (born 1661).
17/1/1736, German architect
Matthaus� Poppelman died, aged 74.
26/3/1726, Sir John Vanbrugh, English playwright and architect
of Blenheim Palace, Castle Howard, and many other stately homes, died of
quinsy.
5/4/1723, Austrian architect JB Fischer von Erlach died aged 66.
25/2/1723, Sir Christopher
Wren, architect, born 20/10/1632 in East Knoyle,
Wiltshire, died aged 91, in London.
His works included St Paul�s Cathedral
(see 22/6/1675) and Chelsea Hospital.
He was buried in the crypt of St Pauls Cathedral.
26/3/1721, Nicolas le Camus, French architect, was born (died
27/7/1789).
21/6/1652. The architect, Inigo
Jones, died. He had designed the Queen�s House at Greenwich and the
Banqueting Hall at Whitehall. He also laid out Lincoln�s Inn Fields and Covent
Garden.
16/4/1646, Birth of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, French court architect
to King Louis
XIV who designed the Hall of Mirrors and the Orangery at Versailles.
20/10/1632, Christopher Wren,
English
astronomer and architect,
designer of St Paul�s Cathedral, was born in East Knoyle, Wiltshire, the son of
a dean.
15/7/1573, Architect Inigo Jones was born in London.� He was the son of a clothmaker.
7/71573, Giacomo Barocchio, Italian architect,
died in Rome (born in Vignola 1/10/1507).
8/1/1570, Philibert
Delorme, French architect, died.
30/11/1518, Andrea Palladio, Italian architect, was born.
11/3/1514, Lazzari Bramante, Italian painter and architect,
died.
1/10/1507, Giacomo Barocchio, Italian architect,
was born in Vignola (died in Rome 7/71573).
26/4/1452, Leonardo Da Vinci,
Italian painter, sculptor, architect, musician,
engineer, scientist, and inventor, was born into The Renaissance.
1212, Thatched roofs were banned
in London because of the fire risk. Stone tiles were to be used instead.