APT-Understanding the Worlds Largest Reinforced-concrete Building

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Understanding the "World's Largest" All-Reinforced-Concrete Office BuildingAuthor(s): GREG DONOFRIO and MEGHAN ELLIOTTSource: APT Bulletin, Vol. 44, No. 2/3 (2013), pp. 23-33Published by: Association for Preservation Technology International (APT)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41982402.

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2/12

Understanding

the World's

Largest

All-Reinforced-Concrete Office

Building

GREG DONOFR 10 AND MEGHAN ELLIOTT

An

unrecognized

uilding

s

determined o

play

role

n

the

development

f

he modern ein-

forced-concrete

rame,

egging

he

question,

Is

engineering istory

'significant'?

Every uilding

as an

engineering

nd

construction

istory.

omeofthese

histories

ay

yield mportantnsights

about echnical

nnovation,

ocioeco-

nomics,

nd,

quite iterally,

he truc-

ture f our built nvironment.

owever,

documentinghy

hese

spects

f a

building's istory

ake t

significant

as defined

y

he riteriand evaluation

standardsftheNationalRegisterf

Historic

laces,

dministered

y

he

U.S. National ark

ervice,

oses

ev-

eral

practical

nd

perhaps

ven

philo-

sophical hallenges

or

reservationists

and historians.hese ssues nclude

difficulties

stablishing

he

historical

context f

buildingystems

orwhich

theres ittle

cholarship,

he

elative

scarcity

f rchival

ngineering

ocu-

ments,

nd the

way

that he

preserva-

tion

ield ses erms elated o architec-

tural

tyle

nd thinks bout he rans-

mission f

ignificance

hrough hysical

materials. hese hallenges aynotbe

exceptional

r

unique

o

buildings

ith

potentiallyignificant

ngineering

r

construction

istory.

heymay,

ow-

ever,

e

persistent.

f

o,

they

ave

he

potential

o nfluencehe

way

preserva-

tionists

construct

ignificance,1

imit-

ing

not

only

he

cope

of

history

ocu-

mented

y

heNational

Register

ut

also access o the conomic enefits

available or he

edevelopment

f ome

buildings

n

theNational

Register,

which s

defineds the fficialist f

the

Nation'shistoric

lacesworthy

f

preservation.Powerfulinancialncentives

ffer

compelling

easons o ist

uildings

n

theNational

Register.

he

history

fold

buildings

s

receiving

ew

ttention

n

many

.S.

states, hich,

ike

Minnesota,

have

nacted tate ehabilitationax-

credit

rograms

ithin he astfive o

ten

years.2

When ombined ith ederal

rehabilitationax

credits,

tate-level

incentivesre

encouragingroperty

owners nd

developers

o consider ore

carefully

he conomic

alue folder

buildings

nd the inancial

easibility

f

their

reservation

nd

adaptive

euse.

Among

he irst

uestionshey

must sk

is whether

he

building

s isted

n

the

National

Register.

f

not,

s t

ligible

or

listing? learly,

ot ll old

buildings

re

historic. ut heresgoodreason,long

with

trong

market

ressures,

o

bring

new

pproaches,ophisticated

esearch

techniques,

nd creative

rguments

o

the ssessmentfhistorical

ignificance,

which s thebasis fNational

Register

listing

nd,

n

turn,

ccessibility

o his-

toric

ax credits.

n

some

ases,

ngi-

neering

nd construction

istory

ffers

new

perspectives

n the valuationf

significance.

This

rticle

egins

y ntroducing

he

Plymouthuilding, 12-storyky-

scraper

n

downtown

inneapolis

uilt

in1909 and 1910. tsowner ontracted

Preservation

esign

Works

PVN)

to

evaluate he

building's istory

n

the

interestf

aking dvantage

f tate nd

federalax creditsvailable or he

rehabilitationf

ncome-producing

buildings

isted

n

theNational

Register.

The firstection f he

paper xplains

howthe

preliminaryuilding istory

and

physical

etailswere

leaned

rom

primary,

rchival

ource

materials,

uch

as

old

newspaper

rticles,

riginal

on-

struction

rawings,

nd historic

ho-

tographs.

he next ection

resents

n

assessmentf he

Plymouthuilding

and the vidence or

ignificance

hat

was establishedasedon both

rimary

and

secondary

ources.

he research

methodsrethen

escribed,

sing

he

Plymouthuilding

s a case

study

o

illustrate

idespread

mpediments

o

documenting

onstructionnd

engineer-

ing

details nd

evaluating

heir

ignifi-

cancewithin broader ontext f

ngi-

23

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3/12

24

APT

BULLETIN:

OURNALF PRESERVATION

ECHNOLOGY

44:2-3,

013

neering

nd construction

istory.

he

conclusion

roposes range

f oordi-

nated

trategies

hich,

n

time,

may

mitigatejie

esearch

hallenges

reser-

vation esignWorks ncountered ith

the

Plymouthuilding.

hese

ugges-

tions nclude

igitizing

heNational

Register

nd

making

ominationsn-

tirely

ord earchable

n

order o facili-

tate esearchbout

ngineering,

ncour-

aging

tudy

f

ngineering

nd construc-

tion

history

s

part

f

professional

engineeringedagogy,

nd

evaluating

engineeringignificance

ith

ewer

theoreticalrameworks

ncreasingly

sed

to

understandhe

history

f

rchitecture

and

technology.

The Historic lymouth uilding

The

Plymouth

uilding

as named or

itsfirstnchor

enant,

he

Plymouth

Clothing ompany.

stablished

n

1880,

the

ompany

ad become neof.

Minneapolis'argest

etailers

y

he

time tsnew

flagship

torewas finished

in

1910;

the

lothing

tore,

nown or

new

tyles,arge

ales,

mall

rofits,

occupied

he ntire irstnd basement

floors f the

argest

nd most labo-

rate ffice

uilding

n

theNorthwest. 3

Upper

loors ere illed ith ffices

leasedby ndividualenantsanging

from ealtorso a small ocal aw

school. ts

easing gents

ad

no diffi-

culty

inding

enants or he

pace,given

the

apid rowth

f

Minneapolis

t

the

turn f

he wentieth

entury.4

etween

1900 and 1910 the

ity's opulation

increased rom

02,718

to

301,408

residents.5

Likewise,

einforced-concreteon-

struction

n

America aw a

period

f

immense

rowth

nd

change

n

the wo

decades

eading p

to the onstruction

of he

Plymouth

uilding.

umerous

new

patents,echnologies,nnovations,and

entrepreneurs

nteredhemarket.

During

his ransitional

eriod,

oncrete

construction

volved rom

xperimental

designs

nd

proprietaryroducts

o a

codified

ngineeringpecialty

hatwas

practiced ydesign

nd construction

companies

ith

xpanding anagerial

sophistication

nd

geographicange.6

Designed

nd built

mid

ntense

rowth

and

change,

he

Plymouthuilding

s an

excellentase

study

o

contemplate

he

relative

ignificance

f

construction

technologies

nd

processes

n

a time

f

flux.

Accounts fconstruction

ctivity

found

n

old

newspapers

rewell-

known ources f nformationhatmay

form hebasisfor

nderstanding

istori-

cal

significance,

ut

hey

an sometimes

also be naccuratendshould herefore

be corroborated

y

on-site

xamination

of he

building

henever

ossible.

uch

wasthe ase with he

Plymouth

uild-

ing.

A

newspaper

rticle hat nnounced

the

beginning

f onstruction

nd

pon-

dered The Romance fModern nd

Ancient oncrete ttributed

hebuild-

ing's ngineeringesign

o the

ocal

Minneapolis-based

ngineer

laude

Allen orter

C.

A.

P.) Turner,

ho s

nowwidely ecognizeds a pioneer f

reinforced-concreteonstruction.7

he

Plymouth

ouldnot

have

been

mong

the irst

xamples

fTurner's

nnovative

Mushroom

ystem, four-way

ein-

forced-concrete

lat-slabtructuralloor

system;

twouldhave

been

merely

ne

of

many

f hat

ngineer'suildings

located

hroughout

heTwinCities f

Minneapolis

nd St.

Paul,

arlier xam-

ples

ofwhichwere

lready

isted

n

the

National

Register.

ndwhile twas

admittedly

arge,

r even he

argest

office

uilding

ntheTwin

Cities,

s

localnewspapersnthusiasticallye-

ported

t the ime f ts

onstruction,8

size lone eemed ninsufficientasis

for istorical

ignificance.

ore

mpor-

tantly,

he

building

id nothave

he

characteristiclared olumn

apitals

nd

girderless

loor

ystem

hat urnermade

famous.

ather,

walk

hrough

he

building

eveals

redominantly

quare

columns nd a

regular rid

f

girders

cast

ntegrally

ith he

wo-way

loor

slab.Themismatchetween

arly

e-

porting

nd the

physical

tructure

f he

building

aised dditional

uestions

about hehistoryf hebuildingnd ts

historical

ignificance.

Preliminary

esearch

or his

roject

suggested

hat

he

Plymouthuilding

might

epresent

n

important

ransition

in

the

development

f he einforced-

concrete rame nd was

potentially

noteworthy

n

part

ecause twas de-

signed

nd constructed

nder he

uper-

vision f n

engineer

ther han urner.

The

nvestigation

as facilitated

y

he

existence

f

n

unusuallyarge

mount

of

privately

eld rchivalnformation.

Despite

ts

more-than-hundred-year

history,

he

Plymouthuilding

as

had

only

wo

owners.

Many

f he

arly

building

ocuments,

hich re o com-

monlyost,misplaced,rdiscarded,

were

assed

n to

the urrent

wner;

they

ncluded

partial

et f

reproduc-

tions f he

riginal

rchitecturalraw-

ings,

xtensive

hotographs

f he

rigi-

nal constructionnd ater

emodeling

projects,

nd the

daily

onstruction

og.

The

og

recorded

uchdetailednforma-

tion

s the

participation

fdifferent

trades,

uantities

f

materials,

eather

conditions,

nd thenames

f

project-

managementersonnel.

ated

photo-

graphs

llustratehe onstruction

e-

quence

nd

steel-reinforcement

etails,

many fwhichwere xecutednwintry

conditions.

xcavation

egan

n

Decem-

ber

1909,

with he irstoncrete

oured

incold weather n

February

,

1910.

Construction

f he

building

as

argely

completed

y

October

5,

1910.

FourQuestions

Combined

with hemore arrative

descriptions

f

engineering,

abor,

nd

construction

rocesses

ffered

y

his-

toric

ewspaper

ccounts,

hese

rimary

sources

rovided

antalizing

eads

o

pursue more omplete istoryf he

building.

he research

evealed hat he

Plymouth

uilding

as

engineered

ot

by

C.

A. P. Turner utrather

y

he

John

M. Ewen

Company

f

Chicago,

Illinois,

orNew York nvestor

ohn

.

Andrus,

ith

Minneapolis-based

ong,

Lamoreaux

nd

Long

s

the rchitec-

tural

irmfrecord.

ll

steel einforce-

ment

or he oncrete as

a

product

called he

M/B

pecial

Open

Hearth

Bar,

whichwas

produced

y

heWil-

liamB.

HoughCompany,

lso

based

n

Chicago.Rising

2 stories bove

grade,

the

building

eached he

maximum

height ermissible

n

Minneapolis

t the

time

fconstruction.

he

building

as a

basementnd

subbasement;

he

oot-

ings

xtend o the

imestone

edrock,

approximately

5 feet elow

grade.

he

building

ad a skeleton

rame,

ith

masonry

xterior.9

eams nd columns

are reinforced

o

be

continuous,

nd the

floors onsist f

pproximately

quare,

two-way

einforcedlabs

panning

o

beams.10

he

regular rid

f

girders

s

integral

ith he oncrete

lab;

the



4/12

THE WORLD'S ARGEST

LL-REINFORCED-CONCRETE

FFICE UILDING

5

elevation

f

he

op

of he

girders

s the

same s the

op

of he oncrete

labs,

but he ower

ortion

f he

girders

s

visible rom elow.

ootings

nd foun-

dationwalls re also constructedf

reinforcedoncrete.

The archival ocuments ere n

themselves

nsufficiento

explain

ow or

why

he

Plymouth ight

e

significant,

but

hey

id

raise

uestions

bout he

building'sistory

hatmeritedddi-

tional esearch.our

uestions

bout

the

Plymouthuilding

eemed alient

andmost

ikely

o

yield

istorically

significantnsights:

Was the oncrete ramentendeds a

skeleton rame

esisting

oth ertical

and ateral

oads,

r was t

yet

n-

otherncrementalnd nadvertent

step

owards

moremodern oncrete

detailing?

Were he

wisted

/BBarsused o

reinforcehe oncretennovative?

Whowas

John

M.

Ewen,

nd

why

was

his

Chicago-basedngineering

and construction

ompany

elected o

build

n

Minneapolis

hen ther

well-knownocal

lternatives,

ike

C. A. P.

Turner,

ere vailable?

When idcold-weather

oncreting

become

general ractice

ithin he

constructionndustry,ndwhat

methods

ltimately

edto ts

ccep-

tance?

Assessing ignificance

Thesefour

uestions

eremotivated

y

a need o situate he

ite-specific

etails

of

he

Plymouthuilding's

onstruction

within broader istorical arrative

and

comparative

ramework

f

engi-

neering,

echnology,

nd the

building

arts.

According

o theU.S. National

Park

ervice

NPS),

To

qualify

or he

National

Register,property

ust e

significant;

hat

s,

t must

epresent

significant

art

f he

history,

rchitec-

ture,

rcheology,ngineering,

r

culture

of n

area,

'nd tmust ave he harac-

teristics

hatmake t a

good

representa-

tive

f

properties

ssociatedwith hat

aspect

f he

past.

NPS

guidance oes

on to

explain

hat

ignificance

ust e

evaluated ithin n

appropriate

on-

text,

meaning

those

atterns

r trends

in

historyy

which

specific

ccur-

rence,

roperty,

r site s understood

Fig.

.

William.

Houghompany

dvertisement

or

M/B

pecial pen

earth

ars,

ecember

191 The

lymouthuilding

s

proclaimed

s the

world's

argest

ll-reinforced

oncreteffice

building.

rom

ement

ge

3

December

91

):

9,

igitized

y

Google

ooks.

and ts

meaning

and

ultimately

ts

significance)

ithin

istory...

s made

clear. 11

The

nvestigation

f

ignificance

nd

context

egan

with

very traightfor-

ward

trategy:Google

earch.

ntering

'Plymouthuilding,'

inneapolis

n

Google

Booksreturned

provocative

it

of vidence

an

advertisement

or he

M/B

pecialOpen

Hearth ar

n

a

1911

issue f he

ndustry

ournal

ement

ge

(Fig.

1).

The advertisement

elebrated

the

product's

se nthe

ecently

on-

structed

lymouth

uilding,

hich,

t

claimed,

as the

world's

argest

ll-

reinforced

oncreteffice

uilding. 12

Tempting

s itwas

to

accept

his nsub-

stantiatedssertion

s

fact,

nyone

familiar

ith dvertisementsf he

arly

twentieth

entury,

rom cure-all

patent

medicines

o

building roducts,

knows hat uch laimsmust e taken

with

healthy

ose of

kepticism.

ev-

ertheless,

ocal

newspaper

ccounts

nd



5/12

26 APT

BULLETIN:

OURNALF

PRESERVATIONECHNOLOGY

44:2-3,

013

Fig.

.

Concrete-beam

einforcing,lymouth

uilding,inneapolis,

innesota.he

rawing,

ated

April

5, 910,

hows

ypical

eam

einforcing

ith

spandrel

eam onditiont he eft.he

pan-

drel eams

oncealed

y

masonry

eneert he

rimary

acadesnd

xposed

t he

econdary

facades. oncretehelfsprovidedo ccommodatenewythefmasonry,ithdditionalythes

placed

n

op

f he eam ndnsetromhe ace f he

uilding.ourtesy

f

Meyerorgman

Johnson,

inneapolis.

a national

dvertisementere

ug-

gesting

hat he

building's

onstruction

was

unique

or ts ime.

Structural

rame

More

useful,

nd

arguably

more efen-

sible,

ources f

nformationere

foundnthe mall

ut

lowly rowing

body

f

econdary

iteraturebout

construction

istory.

otable ontribu-

tions nclude ooks

by

Peter ollins,

Carl

Condit,

eyner

anham,

onald

Friedman,

my

laton,

Andrew

aint,

and

Adrian

orty.13

he imited

et

ele-

vant iterature

as reviewed

n

search

of

nswers o the our

uestions

hat

couldformhebasisfor

he

ignificance

of

he

Plymouth

uilding,

f

placed

within n

appropriate

istoricalon-

text. hefirst

uestion

onsideredhe

structuralrame.

rame

ystems

re

generally

efineds

structural embers

that ct

together

o

resist oth ateral

and

vertical

oads.14 he

emergence

nd

refinementf he einforced-concrete

skeleton

rames

relatively

nderstudied

compared

o the

development

f

ron

framing;

he

development

f he truc-

tural-steel

keleton rame

receded

he

concrete

rame nd s

usually

resented

as a

key

omponent

fthe

nventionf

the

kyscraper.15

While everal

ources escribend

assess he

ignificance

freinforced-

concrete

eam-and-column

ystems

similar

o the ne

used

n

the

Plymouth

Building,

one

dentify

he tructural

design

ntentionr

capacity

f he

ys-

tem

o act ike frame. or

xample,

Carl

Condit's eview f he

ngalls

Building

n

Cincinnati

rovides

concise

history

f

reinforcedoncreteo

1903,

highlighting

he ontributionsfErnest

Ransome

n

particular.

owever,

he

article

otes hat he ontribution

f he

frame o the ateral esistancef he

buildingsunclear,oth t the ime f

its

onstruction,

hen he rchitect

referredo the

tructures a concrete

box,

s well s

today.16

n A

Concrete

Atlantis

eyner

anham escribes

he

rise f

he

daylight

actory

s a

building

type

hat

nspired

odernist

rchitects,

ratherhan s a structural

ystemignifi-

cant o construction

istory.17

hile

exterior

pandrel

eams llowed or he

use of

non-load-bearing

xterior a-

sonry

alls

n

daylight

actories,

he

design

f concrete rames notdis-

cussed,

nd

possibly

ot

ntended,

s

part

f he

ateral-force-resistingystemof he

buildings.

n

contrast,

he rame

of he

Plymouthuildingppears

o be

designed

s a

system

o resistateral

force.

he

engineering

esign

s llus-

trated

n

the

drawings.18

elevant etails

include

heuse of ontinuous eam nd

column

einforcing,arge

window

pen-

ings

n the

xterior,

ackof

designed

shear-transferechanismt the xterior

brick-masonry

nd nterior

lay-tile

partitions,

niformhickness

f xterior

masonry

alls,

nd the bsence f

ny

concrete alls bove

grade,

ven t the

elevator nd stair ores.19

Building pon

he

primary

nd

archival

ources,

econdary

ources ere

used o constructcontext, timeline,

and an

argument

or he

building'sig-

nificance

sing

he our reas f

xplo-

ration s a framework:

evelopment

f

the einforced-concrete

rame,

volution

of teel einforcementnd concrete-steel

bond

heories,

daptation

f oncrete-

building elivery

odels,

nd the rrival

of uccessfulold-weather

oncreting.

t

became lear hat

he

Plymouthuilding

was not he

biggest,

est, allest,

r

longest ngineering

andmark.20

n

attempt

o assess he

magnitude

nd

significance

f he izeof he

Plymouth

Buildingnrelationo other oncrete

contemporariesroved asically

utile.

Couldthe

Plymouth

avebeen he

world's

argest

ll-reinforcedoncrete

office

uilding?

asedon national rends

documented

y

Condit nd

Friedman,

t

is

possible

ut

ikely

lso

mpossible

o

prove.

More

mportantly,

ven

f

t

had

definitively

een

he

argest,

twas not

clear hat izemattered

n

the ontext f

reinforced-concrete

uilding evelop-

ment.

uperlative

izemadefor

ood

advertising

ut

rguably

ontributed

little o an

understanding

f hebuild-

ing's lace nhistory. ore onclusive

and

meaningful

as the act hat ts

structural

ystem

as distinctromts

documented

redecessors:

ts oncrete

frame

ppears

o havebeen

designed

with he ntento resist oth ateral nd

verticaloads.Rather

han definitive

-est,

he

Plymouthuilding

mbodies

advancementsnseveral

spects

f

concrete-engineeringnowledge

nd

building ractice,ncluding

he oncrete

skeleton

rame,

se

of

deformed

ein-

forcing

teel,

n

ntegrated

ontractor-

engineeringelivery,

nd cold-weather

concreting.hePlymouthuildinghus

represents

n

mportanttep

n

the

development

fmodern einforced-

concrete

ngineering

nd

design.

Plans nd construction

hotographs

revealed hat

key

eature

f he

Ply-

mouth's tructuralrame as a

spandrel

beambuilt

ntegrally

nto he xterior

edge

f he loor lab

Fig.

).

Allexte-

riorwallsof he

building

re

upported

at each

floor evel

y

he

pandrel

beams,

llowing

or heuseofnon-load-

bearing

masonry

nfill

alls nd

arger



6/12

THE WORLD'S

ARGEST


FFICE

UILDING

7

Fig.

.

Plymouth

uilding,

ctober

5,

910.

ecorativeeaturesf

he

originalrimary

acades

ncludedusticatederra-cotta

avilions,

ed

rick

wallsaid

n

lemishond ith olded-brick

indow

ills,

nd

twelfth-

storyichlyrnamenteditherra-cottaartouches,onsoles,entils,nd

projecting

ornice,

ll

oppedy

terra-cotta

alustrade.

ourtesy

f

Northwest

rchitectural

rchives,

niversity

fMinnesota

ibraries,

Minneapolis,

ollection

69,

ox

22 Larsen McLaren.

Fig.

.

Plymouthuilding,

936. he

hotograph

hows

he

rimary

a-

cades

fterheirmodernization.

he acades

ppear

ssentially

n-

changedoday.ourtesy

fNorthwestrchitectural

rchives,

niversity

f

Minnesotaibraries,inneapolis,ollection69, ox 22 Larsen

McLaren.

window

penings.

n

mportant

istinc-

tion f he

building's

oncrete

tructure

compared

o that f

many

f ts

prede-

cessors

as

detailing

hat nsured

hat

the rameould

upport

oth ertical

loads

dueto

gravity

nd ateral oads

from indwithout

elying

nthe xte-

rior

masonry

alls.Use

of reinforced-

concretekeleton-frametructural

ys-

tem lsomade t

possible

o dramati-

cally lter he acade s owners f he

building

ought

o

adapt

o

changing

architectural

tyles.

forward-looking

Minneapolis.

ribune

rticle

ublished

n

1910 alluded o

both he

novelty

nd

the

tility

f his

esign, oting

hat

The frame

f he

building

s built

separate

nd distinctrom he utside

shell. he frameherefore

ill

be

good

for enturiesnd couldnot

be demol-

ished

xcept

t

fabulous

xpense.

he

outside, owever,

an be redressed

ime

and

again;

ust

husked

ike orn

very

century

r

two,

nd

a new xterior

added. 21

When

ompleted

n

1910,

the

pri-

mary

acades f

he

Plymouth

ollowed

a Beaux-

rts

tyle opular

t that ime

(Fig.

3).

In

1936 the

TwinCities-based

architectural

irm

f Larson nd

McLaren

edesigned

ts wo

primary

facades

n

a restrained

eoclassical

tyle,

sometimeseferredo as Starved las-

sicism. 22

uring

his enovation

large

portion

f he acadewas removed

nd

replaced.

ssentially,

he acades

were

modernized

y tripping

ff he

ighter-

colored erra otta

nd brick etails

t

thebase and

top tory,

s well

s on the

pavilions

t the nds nd at

thebeveled

corner

f he wo

primary

acades;

or-

nices nd belt ourses

were lso

simpli-

fied,

enerally

lattening

hewall

sur-

faces

o achieve more

wo-dimensional

appearance

Fig.

).

Approximately

ne-

third

f he xterior

asonry

ays

were

removednd

replaced.

1936

newspa-

per

rticle

escribing

he

ecladding

noted hat ecause he

Plymouth

ad

incorporated any

esigns

nd struc-

tural eatures

n

buildings

fmore ecent

construction,

he

modernizing

f he

building

ecessitates

ewer

hanges

han

might

therwise

e

necessary. 23

Concrete

Reinforcement

The use ofthe wistedteel

M/BBars

for einforcement

as also

an indica-

tion hat he

Plymouthuilding

as

more emonstrativef

national rends

than

f he ocal

concrete

uilding

techniques

nfluenced

y

Turner,

hich

favored mooth

einforcing

ars

Fig.

5).

Publications

bout teel

einforce-

ment f

concrete,

uch s theConcrete

Reinforcing

teel nstitute's

valuation



7/12

28 APTBULLETIN:OURNALF PRESERVATION

ECHNOLOGY

44:2-3,

013

Fig.

.

M/B

ar wisted

quare-steel

ar

einforcement,

lymouth

uilding,

pril

,

1910.

he

hoto-

graph

f he lab onstructionas akent n

typical

ne-way

lab earhe

levator

pening.

Typical

loorlabs ad he ameize nd

pacing

f teel

einforcement

n

oth irections.

ourtesy

ofHistoric

lymouthuilding,

LC.

ofReinforcing

teel

ystems

n Old

Reinforced

oncrete tructures

and

writings

y

proponents

f other ein-

forcementystemsrom he imewhen

the

Plymouthuilding

as constructed

(such

s Ernest ansome nd

C. A. P.

Turner)

elped

o

situate he

Plymouth

Building's

/BBarswithin

broader

context

f

arly

oncrete einforcement.

WhileM/BBarswere brand-name

product,hey

were

ust

ne

of

many

twistedRansome

tyle

ars

vailable

at that ime.24

ocumentingypes,

r

even

rands,

f

reinforcement

sed

n

constructions difficult

oday,

much ess

in

tructureshat

re

contemporary

ith

the

lymouthuilding.

owever,

heuse

of heM/BBarswasprescientf he

eventual

cceptance

f he

elationship

ofdeformed

i.e.,

wisted

r

textured)

steel

einforcementnd adhesion

with

concrete

y

heAmerican oncrete

n-

stitute

n

1919,

s

Ransome

romoted.25

It

was a

clear

eparture

rom

ccepted

contemporary

ocal

practice

f mooth

round

ars,

s Turner

trongly

dvo-

cated.26 ansome

rgued,

nd

proved

throughesting,

hat eformed

ein-

forcementchieved

reater

dhesion

with oncrete

ompared

o smooth

reinforcement,

esulting

n

greater

strength

f he verall

einforced-con-

crete

ystem.

his

ype

f wistedein-

forcement,ften eferredo as the

Ransome

ystem,

ventuallyained

widespread

se

nationally.27

Delivery

Method

John

M. Ewen's nvolvement

n

the

project

an

n

part

be understood

n

the

context

f

professional

ealignments

that

ed

to

the onsolidation

f ome

formerlyeparate

ectors fthe

building

industry

n

the

arly

ecades

fthe

twentieth

entury.

istorian

my

la-

tondescribes

hreemethods

sedhistor-

ically

o constructeinforced-concrete

factoryuildings.

hefirst ethod

required

uilding

wners o

employ

their wn forces or llconstruction

work,

nlisting

n

engineer

r architect

to create

lans

nd

engaging

ubcon-

tractors

or

pecialized

ork. he sec-

ond

option

nvolved he

wner's olicit-

ingplans

nd

specifications

or

build-

ing

from n

engineering

irm,

hen

submitting

hem o

general

ontractors

for ids.

The third

ption

was to hire

firmshat ffered

oth

ontracting

nd

engineering

s

integrated

ervices,

n

approach

hat

egan

o

gain

national

acceptance

round

910.28

The

expertise

ffered

y

n-house

engineersamiliar ith einforced-

concrete

onstruction,

he hird

ption,

resulted

n

ncreased

conomyhrough

efficient

esign,

s well s

higherqual-

ity

f ervices

y

ontrolling

ariables

through

nhanced

managerial

ophisti-

cation.29

his

dvantage

may

havebeen

recognizedy

he

developer

f he

ly-

mouth

uilding

nd

may

help

o

explain

why

he selected

firm

rom

hicago.

The

John

M.

Ewen

Company

dvertised

as

engineers

nd builders

Fig.

).

30

There

were number

f

ompetent

ocal

concrete

ontractors

n

Minneapolis

t

the ime f hePlymouthuilding'son-

struction,

ncluding

. F.

Haglin,

ames

Leek

&;

Company,

nd

J.

L.

Robinson,

among

thers,

ut

hey

dvertised

nly

as contractors

nd builders.31

n

addi-

tion

o

ntegrating

ngineering

ndcon-

struction,

wenwas also

known

or

having

eveloped

n

nnovative

ethod

for

imultaneously

xcavating

nd con-

structing

ubgrade

oundations

nd

structures,

hich,

ased n

newspaper

reports,ppears

o havebeenutilized

n

the onstruction

f he

Plymouth

uild-

ing.32

e described

is

method s

leav-

ing he arth nexcavatedntiluch

time

s

the

uper-structure

s

well

long,

the xact everse

f he

present

eth-

od. 33 he arrival f

n outside

ngineer

and contractor

n

a local

marketub-

stantiated

he

position

f

he

Plymouth

Building

s demonstrative

fnational

trends.

Cold-Weather

oncreting

The

Plymouthuilding

s also a well-

documented

arly xample

f old-

weather

oncreting,

hich laton

s-

serts

was

not

possible

n

the

United

States

rior

o1910.34 istoricon-

struction

hotographs

nd

the ore-

man's

og

ndicate

hat aborers

egan

pouring

oncrete or he

Plymouth

Building's

assive

oundations

n

February

, 1910,

when

emperatures

were

wellbelow

freezing.

orkers

continuedo

mix

nd

pour

oncrete

n

theweeks hat

ollowed,

s

tempera-

tures

ropped

o a low

of

2F

on Febru-

ary

16 and

17. Earlier

oncreteon-

struction

n theUnited tates

ad been



8/12

THE WORLD'S

ARGEST


FFICE

UILDING9

limitedo months hen

emperatures

were bove

freezing.

hile

working

n

warmweather as

a

practical

olution,

it ended

o ncrease he ostofconcrete

constructionue to abordemandsn

warmer

months,

hus

elaying

ational

acceptance

f hematerial

or he truc-

ture

f alloffice

uildings.

Early

rticles

romted

heuse of

salts

n

the oncrete

ix

o

prevent

freezing

f hewater

uring uring,

which venRansome

upported.35

n-

othermethod f

asting

oncrete

n

below-freezing

eathernvolves

he

heating

f he oncrete aterials:

ggre-

gate,

and, ement,

nd water. Port-

landCement

ssociation

andbook,

Cold

Weather

oncreting

1916),

de-

scribes he se of ubes ndstoves o

heat

he oncrete aterialsnd then

he

poured

tructure

uringuring.36

n

February

0, 1910,

he

Plymouth's

Building's

oreman oted

n

his

og

that

smoke aused

by

firenthe ubeswith

whichwe heat he oncrete

aterials,

has been

eaking

ut t the

dge

f he

roof...

nnoying

he hinamen ho

operated

chop-suey

estaurant

dja-

cent o thework ite

Fig.

7).37

Persistent esearch

hallenges

Effortso situatehePlymouthuilding

within historicalontext f

ocal,

state,

r national oncrete-construction

technologies,ypologies,

nd

processes

were

omplicatedy

everal

actors,

none fwhichwas

unique

o this ase

study.

ather,

he

history

f

engineering

is nsome

ways rguably

more ifficult

to researchhan rchitecturalistories

that re basedon associations

ith

notable rchitects

r

exemplary

tyles.

There

s a relative

aucity

f nforma-

tion

bout

ngineers

nd their ssoci-

ated

designs

nd construction ethods

compared

o the

ypes

frecords ocu-

menting

he

elationships

etween

architectsnd their lients.

here s a

wide

range

freasons

why

his s true.

First,

hercare

ragmatic

otives

and

practical

ifficulties.hile rchitec-

tural

rawings

fnotable

uildings

nd

structuresreoften aved

n ibraries

and archivess much

or

heir

isual

beauty

s for he

nformation

heymay

convey,ngineeringrawings

ere

typically

estroyed.

nsurancend iabil-

ity

onsiderationsed to the

ommon

Fig.

.

Construction

f he xterior

asonry

alls,

lymouth

uilding,eptember

2,

910. he

ohn

M.

Ewen

ompany

dvertised

s

Engineers

nd

uilders.

billboarddvertised

Lower

loorsre

Open

or usiness.

ourtesy

fHistoric

lymouth

uilding,

LC.

practice

f

hredding

ngineering

ec-

ords fter he

statute f

repose

had

expired,

trend hat ontinues

oday.38

Building

wnerswho have

retained

structural

lans

re

becoming

ncreas-

ingly

eluctant

o share hemwith he

public

utof

oncern or

afety

n

the

face f errorism.

lthough

ational

Registerominationsreusually ublic

record,

ven hat ccess s sometimes

limited.39

Another

eason or he

mphasis

placed

bypreservationists

n the

rchi-

tecturef

buildings

s that he tructure

is often

ompletely

oncealed.

tructural

systems ay

be clad

by

facade

n one

side nd

sheathed ith nterior

inishes

on the ther. windshield

urvey

s a

usefulmethod or istorians

eeking

o

documenthevariations

nd nuances f

architectural

tyle,orting

he

epresen-

tative

r

exemplary

rom hose

hat re

more ommon

r have ost

ntegrity.

Rapid

visual

nvestigation

f tructural

systems

n

the ield

s,

however,

ifficult

at

best;

omparative

nalysis

ithin r

across tructural

ypes

erges

n the

impossible,

hort

f

urking

n ubbase-

ments nd

poking

round

ttics.40

s a

result,he ngineeringomponentsre

often verlooked

n

the

nalysis

f he

historical

ignificance

f

building

le-

ments.

his rends reflected

n

publica-

tions

y

he

National ark

ervice,

whose riteriaeem

o

mply

hat he

integrity

f

building,

hich tdefines

as the

bility

f

property

o

convey

its

ignificance,

ust e

present

n

physical

eatures

hat

re visible

enough

o

convey

heir

ignificance,

although

t dmits his

s sometimes

subjective

udgment. 41

his

require-



9/12

30

APT

BULLETIN:OURNALF PRESERVATION

ECHNOLOGY

44:2-3,

013

Fig.

.

Excavationnd onstructionf he

uilding

oundation,

lymouthuilding,

anuary

910.

Workersontinuedo

mix

nd

our

oncrete

s

temperaturesropped

o low

f F

n

ebruary

1910. mokeromubes sed oheat he oncrete

ix

otheredhe wnersf he

djacent

hop-

suey

estaurant,

hose

ign

svisible

n

he

pper-left

orner

f his

mage. ourtesy

f

Historic

Plymouthuilding,

LC.

ment eems o

potentially

isqualify

building's

tructurerom

eing ignifi-

cant

f t

s hidden nderneath

rchitec-

tural

inishes,

hich s commonnhis-

toric

uildings.

he reinforced-concrete

structuref he

Plymouthuilding

s

exposed

n

the ubbasementnd attic

floorsnd s also detailed

n

the

riginal

drawings,llowing

tto be described

and

photographically

ocumented

following

he

uidelines

f heNational

Park ervice.

Comparisons

o other

uildings

isted

in

theNational

Register

fHistoric

Placeswith imilar haracteristics

an

often e nvaluable

n

establishing

he

significance

f

building.

owever,

theres a large mphasisn architectural

significance

n

theNational

Register,

nd

the

ngineeringignificance

f struc-

ture s not

lways

ncluded,

venwhen t

is merited. ost

engineering

urricula

n

theU.S.

are

tructured

round he e-

quirements

f heAccreditationoard

of

Engineering

nd

Technology,

hich

doesnotmandate he

overage

f

ngi-

neering

istory.42

lackof

overage

f

this ield

n

engineering

urriculaeads

to a

subsequent

ackof wareness f

t,

which imitshe

uantity

fresearch

nd

analysis

y

hose

who

can

potentially

best nderstandhe

ubject

material.

Another

hallenge

ften ncountered

when

etermining

he

ngineeringignif-

icance f structure

s the

mplied

eed

to usewhat s referredo

n

this rticle

as the

superlativepproach

o estab-

lish

ignificance.

hen tcomes o

engineeringignificance,

xperience

as

shown hat t s sometimes

ot

nough

to

merelyembody

hedistinctivehar-

acteristics

f

type, eriod,

r method

of

construction ;

umerous

xamples

f

National

Register

ominations

ssoci-

atedwith

ngineering

uggest

hat

more

uperlative

enchmarks often

used o demonstratesignificance,ne

that

istinguishes

he tructures the

first,

he

tallest,

he

longest,

r

n

some

way

he

ingularlyreatest

xam-

ple

of

type.

his

pproach

s

problem-

aticbecause tobscures

hemore om-

mon lementsnd themes

n

thedevel-

opment

fhistorical

deas,

methods,

nd

designs

hat oster richer nderstand-

ing

f

ngineering

istory.

Conclusion

Several

trategies

ouldbe

mplemented

to

mitigate

he

hallenges

ncountered

inestablishinghe ngineeringignifi-

canceofthe

Plymouth

uilding.

irst,

theNational ark

ervice hould e

given

he esourceseeded o

com-

pletely

igitize

he

National

Register

archive. o

date,

t has

digitized

he

nominationsf ll but

11

states;

he

digitized

ominationsre

entirely

ord

searchable

ith he

help

f

Google.43

The National

ark ervice

uidelines

suggest

hathistoric esources

ust e

considered

nthe ontext fotherx-

amples

fthe ame

property

ype

o

evaluate

ignificance

nd determine

eligibility.44et,

until he ntirerchive

is

digitized,

t s not

possible

o search

among

ll nominations

or etails bout

buildingechnologies

r structural

ys-

tems. he National ark

ervice

might

also consider

modifying

heNational

Register

valuation

orm o

require

r

encourage

nformationbout he

truc-

tural

esign, qualing

hedetail

ow

dedicated

o

descriptions

f rchitec-

tural

tyle

nd ornamentation.

Details bout he tructure

ndthe

significance

frelated

echnologies

nd

building rocesses

might

e more

eadily

infusednto he

National

Registerro-

gramf ngineeringistoryecame

component

f

ngineering

ducation

and

f

hePark

ervice

eveloped reser-

vation

ngineering

s one of

he ecre-

tary

f

he nterior'srofessional

uali-

ficationtandards.45

ccreditation

standards or

ndergraduate

ngineering

programs

n

theUnited

tates,

irst

established

n

1932,

consistently

ecom-

mendedr

required

minimum

ercent-

age

ofoverall oursework

n

thehuman-

ities,

mong

which

istory

as

specifi-

cally

named,

ntil

his riterion as

eliminated

n

2000.46 cholars

nd

practitionersave ince uggestedhat

knowledge

f

ngineering

istory

ould

cultivate

etter

ngineers

ypresenting

themwith broader

erspective

f he

field nd the areer

pportunities

ithin

it;

moreover,

thas

recently

een

ug-

gested

hat he ime

s

ripe

or cademic

trainingpecific

o

preservationngi-

neering.47

rofessional

rograms

hat

train

reservationists

hould lsobe

encouraged

o nclude

more bout

ngi-

neering

nd

construction

istory

s

a

companion

o

architectural-history



10/12

THE

WORLD'S ARGEST

LL-

EINFORCED

CONCRETE

FFICE UILDING

1

courses hat avefor o

long

been t the

core f

preservationedagogy.48

Preservation

esign

Workswas able

to make series

funconventional

rgu-

ments or he

ngineeringignificance

f

the

Plymouth

uilding.

he

Minnesota

StateHistoric

reservationffice

nd

theNational ark ervice

etermined

that

twas

eligible

or heNational

Register

fHistoriclacesunder rite-

rionC as a

representation

f hedevel-

opment

nd

acceptance

f he ein-

forced-concrete

keleton rame

y

he

American

uildingndustry,

s an

early

example

f old-weather

oncreting,

nd

as the

roduct

f nnovative

esign

nd

construction

rocesses

t a

pivotal

period

n

the

history

f oncreterchi-

tecture.

onstructing

his arrative

forced he

roject

eam

o

reject

he

superlativepproach,

way

of

hinking

about

ngineering

ignificance

hat s

analogous

o what rchitecturalisto-

rianRichard

ongstreth

alled he

problem

ith

tyle.

Instead f

complex

nd nuanced onstruct

evel-

oped

o

analyzemeaning, ongstreth

argues,

rchitectural

tyle

ften inds

preservationists

o a

rigid

et f

harac-

teristics,

faulty

lassificationcheme

in

which

nything

ess han

pure

x-

ample

s seen s a

hybrid,

nd there-

foreomethingnsignificant.49nearly

newspaper escription

f he

Plymouth

Building

ot

nly

misidentifiedhe

building'sstyle

f

ngineering;

t lso

raised

uestions

boutwhetherssocia-

tionwith well-known

ngineer

as

enough

o

make

he

tructure

ignificant

when here re

lready

o

many

ther

earlier,

ocumented

xamples

fhis

work

isted

n

the

National

Register.

This

ine f

hinkingrevents

onsider-

ing spects

f

ignificance

hat

ong-

streth

rgues

make or fullerense

of...

istoricalalue. These

nclude

function,tructure,rocesses,abor,

systems,

nd

patronage,

ll ofwhich

informedn

understanding

f he

Ply-

mouth

uilding's

ignificance.

Historians

nd

sociologists

f ech-

nology

ave

imilarlyargely

bandoned

attempts

o document

echnological

firsts

nd to

see the ndividual

nven-

tor s a

genius

igureperating

n

isolation rom

ther conomicnd

social

orces.

nstead,

cholars

ike

Thomas

Hughes

ave

ong ncouraged

systems

etaphor

or

nderstanding

the nterconnectedness

f

physical

rti-

facts,

conomic

orces,

nd nstitutions.

In

a similar

ein,

ociologists

f echnol-

ogy

dvocate esearch

o understandhe

influencend nteractionsfconsumers,

patrons, rofessional

ssociations,

nd

users f rtifacts

n

the

cceptance

r

rejection

f

echnologicalystems.

hese

insights ay rovide

reservationists

with ew heoretical

erspectives

o

construct

ignificance.50

Thesemore

ecent

pproaches

o

studying

he

history

f rchitecture

nd

technology

elped

make ense f

he

Plymouth

uilding

s an

artifact,

story,

nd the

product

f

processes

whose

ignificance

as

complex,

u-

anced,

nd not

nitially

lear.

ltimately,

even houghheNational ark ervice

formally

greed

hat he

building

as

eligible

or

isting

n

theNational

Regis-

ter,

ts

ignificance

ay

till e

subject

o

debate.While imilar

xamples

f ts

particular

einforced-concrete

etails

applied

o

a

skyscraper

r earlier xam-

ples

of

old-weather

oncreting

r

Ewen's

methods

f xcavation erenot

located,

twas

also not

possible

o

prove

that he

Plymouthuilding

as

a

fore-

runner,

he

irst,

r nsome

way

he

most

ignificant.

uch rethedifficulties

writing

ational

Register

ominations

for

uildingypologies,echnologies,

and

practices

like

tripping

nd

re-

cladding

facade,

s was

partially

one

to the

Plymouth

uilding)

n

the bsence

of

publications

hat

rovide

istorical

context. his s a call formore

esearch.

Modulatingteratively

ack nd

forth etween

rimary

nd

secondary

sourceswas the

key

o the uccessful

investigation

f

he

Plymouth

uilding.

The

Plymouth

uilding

eminds s that

historical

ignificance

s not

n inherent

quality

f

buildings

something

imbeddedn

materialsrom he

past.

Rather, econstruct,nd

hopefully

continuouslyeinterpret,

he

ignificance

of ll

types

f

cultural

esources

n

the

present.51

fter

ll,

ignificance

s an

argument,

nd

theNational

Register

needsnew

ones o

nvigorate

he

preser-

vationmovement

nd to sustain

he

economic

edevelopment

folder

nd

potentially

istoric

uildings.52

GREGORY

ONOFRIO, hD,

s

directorf

research

t

Preservation

esign

orks.e s

also n ssistant

rofessor

nd he irector

f

the

eritage

onservationnd

reservation

Graduate

rogram

t

he

niversity

f

Min-

nesota

choolfArchitecture.is esearch

includes

he

istory

f

echnology,

s

well s

the conomic

ncentivesnd

egulatory

on-

straintsf

historic-propertyedevelopment.

e

can e [email protected].

MEGHAN

LLIOTT,E,

Associate

IA,

s

founder

nd wnerf reservation

esign

Works

PVN),

company

edicatedo ncreas-

ing

he

se fhistoric

uildingshroughesign,

real-estate

evelopment

ervices,

nd esearch.

She s lso n

djunct

ssistant

rofessor

f

historic-building

onservation

n

he

niversity

ofMinnesotachool

fArchitecture.rior

o

PVN,

he

ed he

reservationngineering

group

t

Meyer

orgman

ohnson.

he an e

reached

t

[email protected]

Acknowledgements

The uthorsisho hankVN

roject

ssociate

Ryanalmon,IT, or is ubstantialssistance

researching

nd

writing

his

rticle.

elpful

om-

mentsnd

uggestions

erelso

rovidedy

he

APTBulletin'shree

nonymouseer

eviewers.

Notes

1. Howard. Green

rgues

hat ot ll

preser-

vationists

re

willing

o

ccept

hat

ignificance

is social

onstruct;

ee

his

ssay

The ocial

Construction

f

Historical

ignificance

n

Preservation

f

What

for

Whom?:Critical

Look tHistorical

ignificance

ed.Michael

Tomlan

Ithaca,

.Y.:

Nationalouncilor

Preservation

ducation,998),

5-94.

2. The

most

p-to-date

ist

f tates

ith

historic-rehabilitationax-credit

rograms

an

befoundnRutgersenteror rbanolicy

Research,

Third nnual

eport

n

he

co-

nomic

mpact

f he

ederalistoricax

Credit, 012,

ttp://www.nps.gov/tps/tax-

incentives/taxdocs/economic-impact-20

2.pdf

(accessed

arch

3, 013).

3.

$1,500,000

ffice

uilding

lanned,

Minneapolis

ribune

July

6,

909.

4. bid.

5.

John

orchert,

avid

ebhard,

avid

Lanegran,

nd

udithartin,

egacyf

Min-

neapolis:

reservationmid

hange

Min-

neapolis:ity

f

Minneapolis,

983),

1.

6. For briefutwell

ocumentedntroduc-

tion o

he

istory

f einforced

oncrete,

ee

Amy

.

Slaton,

aul .

Gaudette,

illiam.

Hime,nd ames.Connolly,Reinforced

Concrete,

n

Twentieth

Centuryuilding

a-

terials:

istory

ndConservationed.Thomas

Jester

Washington,

.C.:Nationalark er-

vice, 995).

ubsequent

itations

hroughout

this

aper

rovide

dditional

etail.

7.

The omance

fModernnd

Ancient

Concrete,

inneapolis

orning

ribune

May

15,

910.

8.

The

lymouth

uilding:omething

n

he

Naturef Recordreakern

tructural

Operations

ade

Here,

inneapolis

orning

Tribune

Sept.

,

1910.

9.

Completelans,

rawings,

nd

onstruction

specifications

or f

he

tructurere ocatedt

the

orthwest

rchitectural

rchives,

niver-



11/12

32

APTBULLETIN:

OURNAL

F

PRESERVATION

ECHNOLOGY

44:2-3,

013

sity

f

Minnesota

ibraries,

inneapolis,

Minn.

10.

Typicalay

imensions

ange

n

lan

rom

20 feet

inches

y

1

feet

ncheso

2

feet

inchesy 3feet nches,ithhe roportions

generally

eingquare.

11.National

egister

f

Historiclaces

taff,

National

egister

ulletin

5:How o

Apply

the ational

egister

riteria

or

valuation

revisedor

nternet

002,

ttp://www.nps.gov/

nr/publications/bulletins/nrbl5/

accessed

ov.

10,

012).

12. Call he

oll,

ement

ge

3

Dec.

1911):

9.

13.

Peter

ollins,

oncrete

TheVision

f

A

NewArchitecture

London:

abernd

aber,

1959).

arl

ondit,

merican

uilding

rt:

The wentieth

entury

New

ork:

xford

University

ress,

961).

eyner

anham,

Concrete

tlantis:

.S.

ndustrial

uilding

nd

European

odernrchitecture

Cambridge:

MITPress,989). onaldriedman,istorical

Building

onstruction:

esign

Materials,

nd

Technology

New

ork:

W.W.

Norton

:

Co.,

1995).

my

laton,

einforced

oncrete

nd

the

Modernization

f

American

uilding

1900-1930

Baltimore:ohnsopkins

niv.

Press,

001).

Andrew

aint,

rchitect

nd

Engineer:

Study

f ibling

ivalry

New

Haven:

ale

University

ress,

007).

drian

Forty,

oncretend

Culture

A Material

History

London:

eaktion

ooks,

012).

14.Donald

riedman,

The

evelopment

f

Modern

uilding

keletons,

PTBulletin

3,

no.

(2012):

8.

15.On

he

evelopment

f

he tructural-steel

frame,

ee or

xample

homas

.

Misa,

Nation

f

teel:

he

Making

f

Modern

mer-

ica, 865-1925Baltimore:ohnsopkins

Univ.

ress,

995),

5-89;

riedman,

istorical

Building

onstruction

41-55.

or discussion

of

how rchitects

nd

ngineers

ebated

he

relative

erits

f teel

ersus

oncretetruc-

tures

n he

arly

wentieth

entury,

ee

aint,

Architect

nd

ngineer.

16.Carl

ondit,

The

irst einforced-Con-

crete

kyscraper,

echnology

ndCulture

9

(Jan.

968):

6.

17.

Banham,

Concrete

tlantis.

18.

Engineering

rawings,

eparate

nd

istinct

from

he rchitectural

rawings,

ere

repared

for

he

lymouth

uilding.

19.

Whilehe

ngineering

rawings

ndicate

that

he

masonry

alls

eremost

ikely

ot

intendedo ontributeo heateral-force-

resistingystem,

ny

racticing

ngineer

ould

note

hat,

n

eality,

he

xterior

asonry

nd

interior

lay-tileartitions

ncrease

he ateral

stability

f

he

uilding.

20.

One

are,

f ot

uperlative,

ttribute

f he

Plymouth

uilding

as he

astrove

f

ri-

mary

ources

ocumenting

ts

esign

nd

construction.

21. The

omance

f

Modern

nd

Ancient

Concrete, inneapolis

orning

ribune.

22.

The

tyle

as

widely

tilized

n

he

mid-

19308or he

esign

f

arge

ublic

nd

nstitu-

tional

uildings

ike ederal

ost

ffices.

ee

or

example

ames

.

Bruns,

reat

merican

ost

Offices

New

ork:

Wiley,

997),

5.

23. Plan

efacing

f

lymouth

uilding

Soon,

inneapolis

ournal

June

,

1936.

24.Ernestansome's

atent

n

wisted-steel

reinforcement

xpired

n

1901;

eeU.S. atent

305,226,ept.6, 884.

25.

TheAmerican

oncrete

nstitute

ppears

o

first

akehe istinctionetween

he

iffer-

ences

n

oncrete-to-steel

ond

trength

f

smooth

ersuseformed

einforcement

n heir

Proceedingsf

he

ifteenth

nnual

onven-

tion

Atlantic

ity,

.J.:

merican

oncrete

Institute,

919),

93.

26.

Henry

.

Eddy

nd .

A.P.

Turner,

on-

crete-Steel

onstruction

Minneapolis:

uthor,

1919),

1. n he extbooke oauthored

ith

Henryddy,professor

t

he

niversity

f

Minnesota,

urner

rgues

hatteel

einforce-

ment

sheld

n

place y

oncrete

ue o

hrink-

age

nd

rovides

easoning

or he

ppropriate-

ness f mootheinforcement.

n

xample

f

building

hat

urner

esigned

hat

ncorporated

smootheinforcementas he orthwest

Knitting

ompany

uilding

n

Minneapolis,

described

n

he rticle

Reinforced

oncrete

Warehouse

or

orthwest

nitting

o.,

Min-

neapolis,

inn,

ngineering

ews

June

,

1905):

93-594.

27.

Friedman,

istorical

uilding

onstruc-

tion,

39,

50.

28.

Slaton,

einforced

oncrete

nd he

Mod-

ernization

f

American

uilding

139.

oday,

these

hree

ypes

f

uilding-industry

elation-

ships ight

e

described

s

in

house,

de-

sign-bid-build,

nd

bid-design-build.

29.

bid.,

40.

30.

Large

anufacturing

lant

nder

on-

struction,

he ement

ra

February

910):

53.Advertisement

itled

John

.

Ewen om-

pany:ngineersnd ontractorsor arge

Buildings

he

Omaha

aily

ee

April

,

1907.

wen dvertises

he ervices

e ffered:

Co-operate

ith

rchitects

ndOwners

o

advantage

f oth.

rect

uildings

or

ost

lus

a fixed

um

or ervices

endered.

ave n

experience

f 5

years

ithffice

nd

ommer-

cial

uildings.

31.

Today,

.F.

Haglin

nd

.

.

Robinson

(now

raus-Anderson)

re

till

rominent

contractors

n

Minneapolis.

n he

arly

ine-

teenth

entury,

he

irms

dvertised,

r

were

described

s,

contractors

nd

uilders

n

he

following

ources:

C.

F.

Haglin

ontractor

and

uilder

otel

adisson,

inneapolis

Morning

ribune

Dec.

15,

909,

2;

James

Leck c

o.,

Minneapolis

orning

ribune

Sept.1,1913, 3; TheNew awkesuilding

Houses

any

rominent

enants, inneapo-

lis

Morning

ribune

Nov.

6,

1916,

.

32.

A 1910

ewspaper

rticle

bout

he

on-

struction

f he

lymouth

uilding

otes,

So

rapidly

as

hework

one,

hat

he ontractors

did

otwait

oremove

hentire

ortion

f he

earth

romhe

asement

efore

eginning

he

rearing

f he

uilding.

nough

arth

as

removed

t

firsto

plant

he

afts

nd

moulds

[sic]

or he

eavy

oncreting

o

upport

he

walls

nd

illars,

nd

hen

he oilers

egan

o

mount

ithheoncrete.

The

lymouth

Building,

inneapolis

orning

ribune

Sept.

4,

1910.

33.

John

.

Ewen,

wen's ethod

f

ub

construction

s

Applied

o teel

uildings,

Subways

tc.

Chicago:

905),

.

34.

Slaton,

einforced

oncrete

nd

he

Mod-

ernizationfAmericanuilding225-226.

ee

alsoJohn.Nicoli,ColdWeatheroncrete

Work,

ement

ge

4

Feb.,

912):

1-84;

Charles

.

Anderson,

Reconstruction

f

Bridge

98,

New ork

entral

ailroad

Concreting

n

Cold

Weather,

ngineering

nd

Contracting

6

Dec.

,1911):

16-618.

35.R.

K.

Meade,

Prevention

f

reezing

n

Concrete

y

alcium

hloride,

ngineering

Record5

April

0,

1907):

01-502.

ansome

supported

se f alts

ecauseests

ndicated

thatt ncreased

he ire

esistance

f

oncrete;

seeRansome

nd

aurbrey,

einforced

on-

crete

uildings

185.

t s

nowwell

ecognized

that

hloride

ons eact

ith

he teeleinforce-

ment

esulting

n orrosion

nd

ltimately

failure

f he

ystem;

herefore

osturrent

construction

rojectslace

trict

imits

n he

additionf altso heoncreteix. ee or

example

dam

eville,

Chloride

ttack

f

Reinforced

oncrete:

n

Overview,

aterials

and

tructures

8

1995):

3-70;

merican

Concrete

nstitute,

CI 18-05:

uilding

ode

Requirements

or

tructural

oncrete

nd

CommentaryFarmington

ills,

ich.:

005),

54;

nd

lizabeth

ard-

aller,

Corrosion

Resistance

fConcrete

einforcement

PhD

diss.,

assachusetts

nstitutef

echnology,

June

005),

-18.

36.

Portland

ement

ssociation,

oncreting

inCold

Weather

Chicago:

916),

-6.

37.

Plymouth

uilding

aily

eport,

eb.

0,

1910;

he

ogs

o

notmention

he se f

ny

salts.

38.Nationalocietyf rofessionalngineersProfessional

iability

ommittee,ocument

Retention

uidelines

March

005).

39.

A

recent

equest

y

he

uthors

o he

Missouri

tate

istoric

reservation

ffice

or

the

RHP

omination

orm

or he

istoric

Bagnell

am nd

Osage

ower

lant as

denied

ecause

he

roperty

wners

equested

the

withholding

f he

nformation

rom

he

general

ublic

ue o homeland

ecurity

issues.

40.Some

esearchers

re

vercoming

hese

challenges

y

ombining

ultiple

ources

nd

survey

trategies;

lthough

t ims

o

dentify

buildings

n

need

f

eismic

etrofits

opposed

to

documenting

istoric

ignificance,

ee

or

example

he

oncrete

oalition,

hich

s

currentlyctivenCaliforniand he acific

Northwest,

ww.concretecoalition.org/.

41.National

egister

fHistoric

laces

taff,

National

egister

ulletin

5,

ection

III.

.

42.

ABET

ngineering

ccreditation

ommis-

sion,

riteria

or

ccreditingngineering

Programs

Baltimore:

ct.

9,

011).

43.

The

emaining

tates

anked

y

umber

f

NRHP

istings

rommallest

o

argest

re

Illinois,

ichigan,

issouri,

rkansas,

orth

Carolina,

irginia,

exas,

ennsylvania,

hio,

Massachusetts,

nd

New ork.

PS

s ur-

rently

eeking

unding

o

digitize

hese

emain-

ing

tates,

ossibly

n

artnership

ithhe

National

rchives.

PS

National

egister

taff

recommends

two-step

rocess

or

ord-



12/12

THE WORLD'S

ARGEST

LL-

EINFORCEDCONCRETE

FFICE

UILDING 3

searching

he ext fnominationshat ave

already

een

igitized.

irst,

se he

oogle

Advanced

earcheaturet:

www.google.com/

advanced_search

nd

ut

he

alue

f

dfhost

.focus.nps.goy

n he

earch

ithinsite r

domainox,n dditiono earchermsf

interest.

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oo:

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f

Accreditation

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quirements,

EEE

Technology

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ociety

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Christopher

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ennett,

The ole f he

istory

f

echnology

n

he

Engineering

urriculum,

uropeanournal

f

Engineering

ducation

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1997):

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Preservation

ngineering:

FramingNew urriculum,reservation

EducationndResearch

2011):

3-106.

APT

Bulletin

1,

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2013),

pecial

ssue

n

preservation-engineering

ducation.

48.

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Michael

omlan,

Historic

reservation

Education:

longside

rchitecture

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ournal

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(1994): 87-196;

ichard

ongstreth,

Architectural

istory

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f

Historicreservation

n he nited

tates,

Journalf

he

ociety

f

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ans

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999):

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he nited

States,

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ee lsoRichard

ongstreth,

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roblemith

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he

orum,

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letinf he ommitteenPreservationSAH,

(Dec.

984).

50.

An

xcellentverview

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is

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Weibe.

Bijker,

homas.

Hughes,

nd revor

inch,ds.,

he ocial

Construction

fTechnologicalystems:

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Directionsn

he

ociology

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Technology

Cambridge:

IT

Press,012).

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Randall

ason,

Fixing

istoricreservation:

Constructive

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Significance,'

laces

6,

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(2004):

5.

52.

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Minneapolis),

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KM I

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Documents

APT-Understanding the Worlds Largest Reinforced-concrete Building