4 ms·
> Steel-reinforced concrete is a time-limited construction technique. Water eventually gets in and rusts the steel. Since you're a groupie perhaps you know and
by abeppu 5y ago
> Steel-reinforced concrete is a time-limited construction technique. Water eventually gets in and rusts the steel.
Since you're a groupie perhaps you know and could share -- how are these concrete block homes doing almost a century after Wright started using the system described here? Are they known to have serious structural issues from rusting steel / cracking concrete? Especially because this article says "relatively unskilled labor could easily erect the walls", and because it was a new approach, I'd wonder if water would have gotten in and damaged these walls more quickly than with modern reinforced concrete (which often seems to not last long).
- Cupertino95014 5y agoI'm not that much of a groupie, sorry. A lot of FLW homes are owned by architectural or other charitable organizations, since maintaining them is expensive. "relatively unskilled labor" -- LOL.
- adventured 5y agoNot the concrete block homes, however a few decades ago they had to temporarily support the famous cantilevered roofs of Falling Water and then modify/restore its internal structure for longer-term survivability. I visited Falling Water while that process was going on and it was interesting to see how they were approaching modifying such an icon. https://old.post-gazette.com/lifestyle/20011208lowry1208fnp3.asp https://old.post-gazette.com/lifestyle/20011208lowry1208fnp3... https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/11/garden/an-icon-in-peril-saving-fallingwater-from-a-fall.html https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/11/garden/an-icon-in-peril-s...