Prefabrication experiments - 135 - settings - 6 - Colonization experiments : The Arctic

Colonising unfamiliar territories has often been a driving force for the development of prefabricated building systems. In pressing conditions, whether political, geographic or climatic, it is important to erect shelters rapidly for protection and reassurance. A vast unexplored and sometimes contested expanse, the Arctic has been the subject of a type of prototypical colonizing architectural development since the early 1950's.

The North American DEW line (Distant Early Warning), a series of radars erected along the 69^th parallel from Alaska to the easternmost point of the Canadian Arctic  was established for enemy detection. This high arctic development activated and argued for a type of colonization that would construct friendly and vibrant communities from newly «sendentarized» Inuit establishments. Canada’s Indian and Northern Affairs Ministry development of an experimental town at Frobisher Bay (1959) (now Iqaluit in Nunavut, Canada) epitomized this type of colonization ideal as it proposed an arctic town planned from post-war mass housing paradigms.  

Canada’s relationship with its Inuit communities in the High Arctic is characteristic of this type of communal scheme, which seldom sought to recognize the Inuits' way of life. Swedish architect Ralph Erskine’s uncompleted proposal for Resolute Bay (Nunavut, Canada) in the early 1970s constructed a walled settlement for a relocated Inuit community. Beyond the medieval feature of enclosure the wall encompassed group dwelling units. The wall partially surrounded individual dwellings creating a wind barrier and an opening facing the protected direction. The individual lunar lander type dwellings were to be erected in the horseshoe plan’s centre on «spider leg» stilts limiting heat transfer with the permafrost keeping the ground stable.

Sitting on the stilts, two different sized octagonal shaped prisms were stacked concentrically and skewered together by a vertical core. This core space for storage, fuel, cooking and hygiene functions, organizes the composition.  The smaller prism supported a larger one above for living functions. The stacking defines a covered edge at ground level, a type of canopy, covering a semi-private adaptable space.  The ground floor level placed about 0.5 meters above the ground relates to its surroundings while the upper level, the living spaces, seems completely detached from its context. Both the wall and dwellings seemed unfit for the Inuit lifestyle, which is contingent to a close-knit symbiotic relationship with its surroundings.

Left Above: Experimental town at Frobisher Bay;  Left Below: Resolute Bay (Ralph Erskine); Right: Prototype arctic dwelling (Ralph Erskine) 

Prefabrication experiments - 134 - settings - 5 - Mechanisation: The travelling overhead crane

Pulleys, ropes, rollers, lifts, earth movers, chariots or wagons are just a few implements which have alleviated human effort and have forever contributed to the building process. From stone cathedrals to steel skyscrapers, instruments rigged for lifting propelled by human or animal power defined construction capacity.  Industrialization renewed these machines progressing from animal or natural power to steam, fuel and even electricity and from traditional building materials to iron and steel. This new type of self-propelled mechanisation improved ability to lift, push, carry, pull and crush any object of increasingly large sizes.

Mechanisation’s influence on building culture in general and prefabricated building culture in particular was fundamental as machines enhanced human capability and took over factories. Large components, complete subassemblies or completed building sections could be manufactured off-site and then carried to and integrated into constructions. Further, mechanisation allowed building sites to be managed as veritable factories; the tower crane is the absolute machine of on-site mechanisation.

The overhead crane also referred to as the bridge crane is indispensable in factory production of building components. The bridge crane is a hoist attached to a travelling beam spanning and running across on parallel runway girders. The hoist is carried by the beam but can also move laterally across producing a three axis mobility: x,y and z axes. Tailored to manufacturing spaces and processes in the late 19th century, a self-propelled travelling crane was showcased by at the Vienna world exhibit in 1873. Quite an accomplishment, as human powered cranes were still the norm in the late 1800’s.   Thirty-five year old engineer Rudolf Bredt designed the crane that could carry a twenty-five tonne load. Combining a timber and iron framework one of Bredt’s similar cranes received an award at the Chicago world’s fair in 1893. Bredt subsequently published a catalogue of cranes in 1894. From late 19^th century onward this type of factory implement streamlined manufacturing.

The industrialization of the crane is currently further progressing as rolling machines are numerically controlled and can move precisely through the factory no longer just lifting and carrying but can be adapted to achieve a horde of various tasks such as cutting and casting. 

An early travelling crane - source : Kurrer K.E.  The History of the Theory of Structures