Alchemy and invention

Exercise 14. Reading for pleasure. See appendix. OAKLEY ANNIE.

Unit 5

Exercise 1. Translate the following auxiliary words:

between, over, through, as…as, of, with, in, from, into, among, so

Words to be remembered:

ancestor – предок

tin – олово, жесть

mercury – ртуть

lead – свинец

precious – драгоценный

brass – латунь, бронза

patina – налет на бронзе, чернь

spire – шпиль, пик

to weather – подвергаться воздействию погоды или выветриваться

pre-patination – предварительное чернение

over – сверх-, над -, чрезмерно-, пере-

overhang – выступать над чем-л., свешиваться, нависать

to bring about – вызывать, осуществлять

ancient – древний, старинный

to survive – выжить, пережить

complexity – сложность, запутанность

instant – настоятельный, немедленный, текущий

maturity – зрелость

* * *

cast iron - чугун

skeletal – скелетообразный

inhibition – торможение, задерживание, сдерживание

inhibit – препятствовать, сдерживать

repetition – повторение, копия

to mark – отмечать, замечать

to employ – нанимать, применять, использовать

to mould – формовать, делать по шаблону

to prefabricate – собирать, изготавливать

prefabricated – сборный

to sustain – поддерживать, удерживать

to explore – исследовать

lustrous – блестящий, глянцевитый

trabeat – (построенный) с балочным покрытием, относящийся к стоечно-балочной системе

internal – внутренний

taste – пробовать, иметь вкус

upwards – вверх, свыше

downwards – вниз

stainless – незапятнанный

~ steel - нержавейка

steek – гладкий, приглаживать

pinnacle – вершина (горы), кульминационный пункт

transfer – переносить, передавать

refinement – утонченность, изысканность, обработка, очистка

loadbearing wall – несущая стена

Read and translate the text 5A with a dictionary.

Text 5A:

The symbiosis between metal and architecture has evolved over centuries, with successive eras opening up new technical and aesthetic possibilities through the development of different types of metals.

The use of metals is as old as human civilization. Our ancestors knew of just seven metals: gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead and mercury. Historically, metals occupied the mysterious realm of alchemy, with its mixtures and secret formulations, and were little understood by those who worked with them. A century ago, aluminium was considered more precious than gold or silver. Each era has brought about the discovery of new types of metal, chiefly through the process of alloying (which has its roots in alchemy). The ancients experimented with alloys, mixing copper and tin to produce a new metal, bronze, with a lower melting temperature and improved casting properties. (Zinc was also added to copper to produce brass, a gold-like material…)

The Romans were the first to use metal as a major building material. The Pantheon had a bronze roof, parts of which survived until the middle of this century; Hagia Sophia originally had a lead roof that lasted 1400 years. Because of their malleability and relative ease of working, copper and lead became synonymous with the complexities of Gothic architecture. Endowed with the rich green patina of age, weathered cooper spires and roofs still enliven the skylines of northern European cities. Improved techniques of pre-patination can now bestow an instant, uniform illusion of maturity; Jean Nouvel’s new cultural centre in Lucerne is crowned by a vast, overhanging roof clad in sheets of prepatinated cooper.

* * *

But it is iron and steel that have had the most radical influence on architecture. The skeletal structural frame effectively liberated buildings from the inhibitions of the loadbearing wall and trabeated construction. Cast iron, the great material of the Industrial Revolution, revolutionized Georgian and Victorian buildings. Ideally suited to repetition and standardization, the metal’s ubiquity defined the British Empire; cast iron bandstands, ornamental gates, fountains and entire prefabricated buildings were simply plucked from manufacturer’s pattern books and energetically exported around the Imperial word, from Durban to Bombey.

In 1851, Paxton’s Crystal Palace marked a defining moment in the history of metal and architecture. Employing 3300 columns and 2220 girders prefabricated from moulded cast iron, it set the tone for iron buildings for the next 50 years. In Europe, seminal buildings such as Labrouste’s Bibliotheque de Saint-Généviève pioneered the use of cast iron internally in Gothicized barrel vaults of prefabricated sections.

The evolution of iron and steel frames made it possible to build upwards; the heroic scale of American cities was determined by steel-framed skyscrapers. The development of stainless steel at the turn of the century provided an environmentally stable metal that could sustain a polished, lustrous appearance. The Chrysler Building is New York was one of the first buildings to use stainless steel externally, on its sleek, hypodermic pinnacle roof. After the war, the transfer of technology from military and aeronautical industries generated new metal forms. Jean Prouvé’s refinement of industrial detailing and use of lightweight sheet metal have been exhaustively explored by the recent generation of High-Tech architects.

(by Catherine Slessor)

Exercise 2. Answer the following questions:

1) How many metals did our ancestors know? Name them, please.

2) What connection is between metals and the mysterious realm of alchemy?

3) What was the final task of the ancient alchemist?

4) What can you say about aluminium? Did people consider it (to be) more precious than gold or silver? Why?

5) What is a new material formed from?

6) What is bronze?

7) What was added to produce brass?

8) Who used metal as a major building material?

9) What metals were used for the Pantheon?

10) Where was a lead roof built?

11) What properties of lead and copper were known earlier?

12) What is patina? Where is it used?

13) What is Jean Nouvel’s new cultural centre in Lucerne famous for?

* * *

14) What metals had the radical influence on architecture?

15) What liberated buildings form the inhibitions of the loadbearing wall and trabeated construction?

16) Why is cast iron considered (to be) the great material of the Industrial Revolution?

17) What was exported around the Imperial world?

18) What did Paxton’s Crystal Palace mark in 1851?

19) What parts of buildings were prefabricated from moulded cast iron?

20) What seminal buildings were used of cast iron?

21) What did the Chryster Building in New York use?

22) Where and when were new metal forms used?

23) What was explored by the recent generation of High-Tech architects?

Exercise 3. Read and translate the following sentences paying attention to “ed” forms.

1) The symbiosis between metal and architecture has evolved over centuries, with successive eras opening up new technical and aesthetic possibilities through the development of different types of metals.

2) Historically, metals occupied the mysterious realm of alchemy, with its mixtures and secret formulations, and were little understood by those who worked with them.

3) A century ago, aluminium was considered more precious than gold or silver.

4) Improved techniques of pre-patination can now bestow an instant, uniform illusion of maturity.

5) Jean Nouvel’s new cultural centre in Lucerne is crowned by a vast, overhanging roof clad in sheets of prepatinated copper.

6) The skeletal structural frame effectively liberated buildings from the inhibitions of the loadbearing wall and trabeated construction.

7) But it is iron and steel that have had the most radical influence on architecture.

8) Ideally suited to repetition and standardization, the metal’s ubiquity defined the British Empire.

9) When used, zinc was also added to copper to produce brass, a gold–like material.

10) In 1851, Paxton’s Crystal Palace marked a defining moment in the history of metal and architecture.

11) The development of stainless steel at the turn of the century provided an environmentally stable metal that could sustain a polished, lustrous appearance.

12) After the war, the transfer of technology from military and aeronautical industries generated new metal forms.

13) Jean Prouvé’s refinement of industrial detailing and use of light weight sheet metal have been exhaustively explored by the recent generation of High-Tech architects.

Exercise 4. Read and translate the following sentences paying attention to “ing” forms.

1) Each era has brought about the discovery of new types of metal, chiefly through the process of alloying…

2) Because of their malleability and relative ease of working, copper and lead became synonymous with the complexities of Gothic architecture.

3) Jean Nouvel’s new cultural centre in Lucerne is crowned by a vast, overhanging roof clad in sheets of prepatinated copper.

4) The skeletal structural frame effectively liberated buildings from the inhibitions of the loadbearing wall and trabeated construction.

* * *

5) In 1851, Paxton’s Crystal Palace marked a defining moment in the history of metal and architecture.

6) Employing 330 columns and 2220 girders prefabricated from moulded cast iron, it is set the tone for iron buildings for the next 50 years.

7) Having become very acute in many countries after War II the housing problem called for a solution.

8) After graduating from the University he worked as an architect in the Far East.

9) Reading English technical magazines is important for an architect.

10) The experiment having been made, the students were interested in the results.

11) This capacity for recycling gives them some tentative credentials to sustainability.

Exercise 5. Read and translate the following sentences. Define the functions of “that”.

1) Peter Zumthor believes that «Architecture has its own realm.»

2) But it is iron and steel that have had the most radical influence on architecture.

3) The development of stainless steel at the turn of the century provided an environmentally stable metal that could sustain a polished, lustrous appearance.

4) I suppose that Peter Zumthor will not necessarily agree with my analogies.

5) You are on a wide gallery that overlooks the main space of the baths.

6) The spaces that contain the water seem hewn out of the huge stratified block rather than built in a normal way.

7) That is the shortest way/road to the village.

8) The promenade round the inner pool allows you to visit smaller spaces carved into the perimeter walls and into the mighty supports that define the pool’s corners.

9) The climate in London is milder than that in St.Petersburg.

10) Lighting changes according to the weather and time of a day, so that inside you are always aware of external conditions.

11) What is that? That is a car.

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