Sign-In
Cart
Industrializing Iron Construction at the École Centrale Paris, 1829-1865
Paperback
Technology & EngineeringFrench HistoryArchitecture History
ISBN13: 9781626711945
Publisher: Purdue University Press
Published: Dec 15 2025
Pages: 534
Weight: 2.15
Height: 1.10 Width: 5.90 Depth: 8.60
Language: English
As industrialization began to evolve in the early nineteenth century, engineers were urgently needed to integrate science into the field of construction. They needed to learn how to innovate and understand the new material--iron. Industrializing Iron Construction at the École Centrale Paris, 1829-1865 explains a novel response to that need, a successful new school to educate civil and structural engineers, architects, contractors, and industrialists who would become major players in the development of modern iron construction. Among them were two of the most prominent creators of our modern world--Eiffel, of the thousand-foot tower, and Jenney, of Chicago skyscraper fame.
The École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris created a unique pedagogy that taught not only how to solve problems, but how to innovate. This is the lively account of how that happened. It traces the sources of French education in engineering and architecture and follows the careers and ideas of the chief players. Familiar faces like the architect Jean-Nicolas Louis Durand, the École Polytechnique's founder Gaspard Monge, the bridge builder Jean-Rodolphe Perronet, and the theoretician Gaspard Riche de Prony appear in a new light. Half-remembered pioneers like the railway builder Eugène Flachat gain prominence. Forgotten innovators like César Leblanc, the creator of technical drafting, or Alphonse Halbou, who patented the rolled I-beam, resurface. New names like Auguste Perdonnet, a railway promotor, the theoretician Jean-Baptiste Bélanger, or the three-generation Roussel contracting family emerge. Even the French empress Eugénie takes an active part in the development. The school's success was a product of the interaction of its pioneers, their collaborations, and their clashes. Industrializing Iron Construction at the École Centrale Paris, 1829-1865 uncovers new sources to view icons of nineteenth-century construction from a fresh perspective. Structures we know so well suddenly emerge in a new light. The reading room of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the iron-framed Moulin Menier, or the record-spanning Galerie des Machines point the way to a new understanding of structure and construction. A brand-new school created by an enthusiastically motivated group of innovators initiated our modern age in engineering and architectural education.
Also in
Architecture History
The Power of Place: Rulers and Their Palaces, Landscapes, Cities, and Holy Places
Rollason, David
Hardcover
Rural Utopia and Water Urbanism: The Modern Village in Franco's Spain
LeJeune, Jean-François
Paperback
A Field Guide to American Houses (Revised): The Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America's Domestic Architecture
McAlester, Virginia Savage
Paperback
Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks: Landscape Monuments of the Ancient Ohio Valley
Hancock, John E.
Hardcover
The Black Family Who Built America: The McKissacks, Two Centuries of Daring Pioneers
McKissack Daniel, Cheryl
Hardcover
The Golden Age of Normandale: An Illustrated Remembrance of Montgomery's Legendary Shopping Center
Moseley, Willie G.
Paperback
Men at Work: The Empire State Building and the Untold Story of the Craftsmen Who Built It
Kurtz, Glenn
Hardcover
Frédéric Chaubin. Cccp. Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed. 45th Ed.
Chaubin, Frédéric
Hardcover
The Genius in the Design: Bernini, Borromini, and the Rivalry That Transformed Rome
Morrissey, Jake
Paperback
The Divine Blueprint: Temples, power places, and the global plan to shape the human soul.
Silva, Freddy
Paperback
Nineteen Reservoirs: On Their Creation and the Promise of Water for New York City
Sante, Lucy
Paperback
Historic Homes of the Old West Side: The neighborhood at the heart of the planned city of Longview, Washington
Baxter a. I. a. Emeritus, Fred J.
Hardcover
The One World Tartarians (Black and White): The Greatest Civilization Ever Erased From History
Lee, James W.
Paperback
New York 2020: Architecture and Urbanism at the Beginning of a New Century
Fishman, David
Tilove, Jacob
Stern, Robert A. M.
Hardcover
The Great Miscalculation: The Race to Save New York City's Citicorp Tower
Greenburg, Michael M.
Hardcover
Fausto & Felice Niccolini. Houses and Monuments of Pompeii. 45th Ed.
Schütze, Sebastian
Kockel, Valentin
Hardcover
The Stage of Time: Secrets of the Past, The Nature of Reality, and the Ancient Gods of History
LaCroix, Matthew R.
Paperback
The Sea Ranch, Revised: Fifty Years of Architecture, Landscape, Place, and Community on the Northern California Coast
Lyndon, Donlyn
Alinder, Jim
Hardcover
Cathedrals: Masterpieces of Architecture, Feats of Engineering, Icons of Faith
Jenkins, Simon
Hardcover
Welcome to Paradox City: A Critical History of Dallas as Told Through Its Architecture
Lamster, Mark
Hardcover
Antifascist Architecture: A Genealogy of Antifascist Architects, Buildings, History, and Theory
Santa Lucia, Andrew
Roche, Daniel Jonas
Paperback
Barragán Outside Barragán: A Journey Through Books, Trips, Exhibitions and Friends
Barragan, Luis
Canales, Fernanda
Paperback
Restoring Notre-Dame de Paris: Rebirth of the Legendary Gothic Cathedral
de Chalus, Olivier
Zachmann, Patrick
Hardcover
100 Turn-Of-The-Century Brick Bungalows with Floor Plans
Rogers & Manson
Manson
Manson, Rogers &.
Paperback
A Year at Highclere: Secrets and Stories from the Real Downton Abbey
The Countess of Carnarvon
Hardcover
Skyscrapers: A History of the World's Most Extraordinary Buildings -- Revised and Updated
Dupré, Judith
Hardcover
Historic Homes of the Old West Side: The neighborhood at the heart of the planned city of Longview, Washington
Baxter a. I. a. Emeritus, Fred J.
Paperback
Grand Avenues: The Story of Pierre Charles l'Enfant, the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C.
Berg, Scott W.
Paperback