1.
Modern architecture
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Modern architecture or modernist architecture is a term applied to a group of styles of architecture which emerged in the first half of the 20th century and became dominant after World War II. The revolution in materials came first, with the use of cast iron, plate glass, the cast plate glass process was invented in 1848, allowing the manufacture of very large windows. The Crystal Palace by Joseph Paxton at the Great Exhibition of 1851 was an example of iron and plate glass construction, followed in 1864 by the first glass. These developments together led to the first steel-framed skyscraper, the ten-story Home Insurance Building in Chicago, the iron frame construction of the Eiffel Tower, then the tallest structure in the world, captured the imagination of millions of visitors to the 1889 Paris Universal Exposition. French industrialist François Coignet was the first to use iron-reinforced concrete, in 1853 Coignet built the first iron reinforced concrete structure, a four story house in the suburbs of Paris. Another important technology for the new architecture was electric light, which reduced the inherent danger of fires caused by gas in the 19th century. This break with the past was particularly urged by the architectural theorist, for each function its material, for each material its form and its ornament. This book influenced a generation of architects, including Louis Sullivan, Victor Horta, Hector Guimard, at the end of the 19th century, a few architects began to challenge the traditional Beaux Arts and Neoclassical styles that dominated architecture in Europe and the United States. The Glasgow School of Art 1896-99) designed by Charles Rennie MacIntosh, had a facade dominated by large bays of windows. The Art Nouveau style was launched in the 1890s by Victor Horta in Belgium and Hector Guimard in France, it introduced new styles of decoration, based on vegetal and floral forms. In 1903-1904 in Paris Auguste Perret and Henri Sauvage began to use reinforced concrete, previously used for industrial structures. Between 1910 and 1913, Auguste Perret built the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, because of the concrete construction, no columns blocked the spectators view of the stage. Otto Wagner, in Vienna, was another pioneer of the new style, in his book Moderne Arkchtekture he had called for a more rationalist style of architecture, based on modern life. Wagner declared his intention to express the function of the building in its exterior, the reinforced concrete exterior was covered with plaques of marble attached with bolts of polished aluminum. The interior was purely functional and spare, an open space of steel, glass. The Viennese architect Adolf Loos also began removing any ornament from his buildings and his Steiner House, in Vienna, was an example of what he called rationalist architecture, it had a simple stucco rectangual facade with square windows and no ornament. The fame of the new movement, which known as the Vienna Secession spread beyond Austria. Josef Hoffmann, a student of Wagner, constructed a landmark of early modernist architecture and this residence, built of brick covered with Norwegian marble, was composed of geometric blocks, wings and a tower
2.
Hong Kong
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Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of East Asia. Macau lies across the delta to the west, and the Chinese province of Guangdong borders the territory to the north. With a total area of 1,106 square kilometres. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during World War II until British control resumed in 1945, under the principle of one country, two systems, Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative, in addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of appropriate fields. Hong Kong is one of the worlds most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the worlds most competitive and freest economic entity. As the worlds 8th largest trading entity, its legal tender, Hong Kongs tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by simple taxation with a competitive level of corporate tax and supported by its independent judiciary system. However, while Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and it has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the worlds longest life expectancy. Over 90% of the population use of well-developed public transportation. Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring areas of Mainland China. Hong Kong was officially recorded in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking to encompass the entirety of the island, before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet—now Aberdeen Harbour, literally means Little Hong Kong)—between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was a point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen. Detailed and accurate romanisation systems for Cantonese were available and in use at the time, fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbours fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Hong Kong developed Victoria Harbour, the name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926. Nevertheless, a number of century-old institutions still retain the form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric. As of 1997, its name is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. This is the title as mentioned in the Hong Kong Basic Law. Hong Kong has carried many nicknames, the most famous among those is the Pearl of the Orient, which reflected the impressive nightscape of the citys light decorations on the skyscrapers along both sides of the Victoria Harbour
3.
Arup Group
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The firm has over 14,000 staff based in 92 offices across 42 countries, and is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Arup has participated in projects in over 160 countries, Arup is owned by trusts, the beneficiaries of which are Arups past and present employees, who receive a share of the firms operating profit each year. The firm was founded in London in 1946, as the Ove N. Arup Consulting Engineers by Ove Arup and he set out to build a firm where professionals of diverse disciplines could work together to produce projects of greater quality than was achievable by them working in isolation. In 1963, together with the architect Philip Dowson, Arup Associates was formed, in 1970, the firm reformed as Ove Arup & Partners. It is best known for its work for the built environment. Projects to which it has contributed include the Sydney Opera House,3, Nevada, USA Druk White Lotus School was built to survive the Ladakhi weather. Kingdom Centre, The third tallest skyscraper in Saudi Arabia, and the second tallest in Riyadh and this group continues to work under the banner of Arup Associates following a streamlining of the Arup brand. Many of Arups modern stadia are designed with a contemporary, distinctive edge, the most notable stadium projects led by Arup remain the City of Manchester Stadium, Allianz Arena, Beijing National Stadium, Donbass Arena and the Singapore Sports Hub. Arups multidisciplinary sports venue design and engineering scope on the Singapore Sports Hub won the 2013 World Architecture Festival Award in the Future Projects, the Casa da Música, Oporto, designed by Arup and Office for Metropolitan Architecture was nominated for the 2007 Stirling Prize. Arup was awarded the Worldaware Award for Innovation for its Vawtex air system in Harare International School, Arup Fire has won the Fire Safety Engineering Design award four times since its creation in 2001. The 2001 inaugural award was won for Arups contribution to the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK, in 2004, the design for Londons City Hall was appointed joint winner. In 2005, the Temple Mills Eurostar Depot won, the 2006 winning entry was for Amethyst House, a nine-storey building with an atrium from the ground to the top, in Manchester, UK. Arup was also awarded Royal Town Planning Institute Consultancy of the award in 2008. Mike Glover is the recipient of the 2008 Institution of Structural Engineers Gold Medal, the Evelyn Grace Academy, London designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and Arup won the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize 2011. Arup was named Tunnel Design Firm of the Year at the 2012 ITA AITES International Tunnelling Awards, Arup Fellow is a lifelong honorary title awarded to selected honorary individuals in the firm. It acknowledges the highest design and technical achievements of people, not only within the firm and they are considered role models who possess world-class expertise who put theory into effective practice. Sir Ove Nyquist Arup, structural engineer and philosopher, founder of the company, recipient of the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture 1966, peter Dunican, structural engineer, first chairman of Ove Arup Partnership, and President of the Institution of Structural Engineers in 1977 and 1978. Sir Jack Zunz, civil engineer, and principal designer of the Sydney Opera House
4.
Skyscraper
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A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building having multiple floors. When the term was used in the 1880s it described a building of 10 to 20 floors. Mostly designed for office, commercial and residential uses, a skyscraper can also be called a high-rise, for buildings above a height of 300 m, the term supertall can be used, while skyscrapers reaching beyond 600 m are classified as megatall. One common feature of skyscrapers is having a steel framework that supports curtain walls and these curtain walls either bear on the framework below or are suspended from the framework above, rather than resting on load-bearing walls of conventional construction. Some early skyscrapers have a frame that enables the construction of load-bearing walls taller than of those made of reinforced concrete. Modern skyscrapers walls are not load-bearing, and most skyscrapers are characterized by surface areas of windows made possible by steel frames. However, skyscrapers can have curtain walls that mimic conventional walls with a surface area of windows. Modern skyscrapers often have a structure, and are designed to act like a hollow cylinder to resist wind, seismic. To appear more slender, allow less wind exposure, and transmit more daylight to the ground, many skyscrapers have a design with setbacks, a relatively big building may be considered a skyscraper if it protrudes well above its built environment and changes the overall skyline. The maximum height of structures has progressed historically with building methods and technologies, the Burj Khalifa is currently the tallest building in the world. High-rise buildings are considered shorter than skyscrapers, the first steel-frame skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, Illinois in 1885. Even the scholars making the argument find it to be purely academic and this definition was based on the steel skeleton—as opposed to constructions of load-bearing masonry, which passed their practical limit in 1891 with Chicagos Monadnock Building. What is the characteristic of the tall office building. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and it must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line. Some structural engineers define a highrise as any vertical construction for which wind is a significant load factor than earthquake or weight. Note that this criterion fits not only high-rises but some other tall structures, the word skyscraper often carries a connotation of pride and achievement. A loose convention of some in the United States and Europe draws the limit of a skyscraper at 150 m or 490 ft. The tallest building in ancient times was the 146 m Great Pyramid of Giza in ancient Egypt and it was not surpassed in height for thousands of years, the 14th century AD Lincoln Cathedral being conjectured by many to have exceeded it
5.
Wan Chai
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Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west, the area north of Gloucester Road is often referred to as Wan Chai North. Wan Chai is one of the busiest commercial areas in Hong Kong with offices of many small, Wan Chai North features office towers, parks, hotels and an international conference and exhibition centre. As one of the first areas developed in Hong Kong, the locale is densely populated yet with noticeable residential zones facing urban decay, arousing considerable public concern, the government has undertaken several urban renewal projects in recent years. There are many landmarks and skyscrapers within the area, most notably the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Central Plaza. Wan Chai originally began as Ha Wan, literally meaning a ring or lower circuit. As one of the earliest developed areas in Hong Kong along the Victoria Harbour, Central, Sheung Wan, Wan Chai literally means a cove in Cantonese from the shape of its coastal line. The area is no longer a cove, however, due to city development. Wan Chai was first home to the many Chinese villagers living along the coastlines in proximity to Hung Shing Temple. Most of them were fishermen, who worked around the area near Hung Shing Temple overlooking the entire harbour, Hung Shing Ye, the God of the Sea, was one of the deities worshiped by the locals. With the growth of the British Hong Kong administration, centred in old Victoria, Wan Chai attracted those on the fringes of society, such as coolie workers, a focal point of development at that time was Spring Gardens, a red-light zone. By the 1850s the area was becoming a Chinese residential area. There were dockyards on Ship Street and McGregor Street for building and repairing ships. The edge of Sun Street, Moon Street and Star Street was the site of the first power station in Hong Kong, operated by the Hongkong Electric Company. One of the first water-front hospitals was the Seamans Hospital, built in 1843 and it was then sold to the British Royal Navy in 1873 and subsequently redeveloped into the Royal Naval Hospital. After the Second World War, the hospital was revitalised as the Ruttonjee Hospital, the district was home to several well-known schools. One of these schools was established by the traditional teacher. Started as a shushu in 1919, the school was renamed Dunmei School in 1934 after him and it taught classical Chinese writings and Confucian ethics
6.
Hong Kong Island
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Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. It has a population of 1,289,500 and its density is 16, 390/km². The island had a population of about 3,000 inhabitants scattered in a dozen fishing villages when it was occupied by the United Kingdom in the First Opium War, the Central area on the island is the historical, political and economic centre of Hong Kong. The northern coast of the forms the southern shore of the Victoria Harbour. The island is home to many of the most famous sights in Hong Kong, such as The Peak, Ocean Park, many historical sites, the mountain ranges across the island are also famous for hiking. The northern part of Hong Kong Island, together with Kowloon and Tsuen Wan New Town and their combined area is approximately 88.3 square kilometres and their combined population is approximately 3,156,500, reflecting a population density of 35, 700/km². The island is referred to locally as Hong Kong side or Island side. This style was applied to many locations but is now only heard in this form and Kowloon side. Hong Kong Island comprises the following suburbs/localities of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Island is not part of the Islands District, Hong Kong island became a colony of the British Empire when their forces defeated the Chinese in the First Opium War. The island was populated by only a few thousand people when British empire colonized it, the Second World War was a dark period for Hong Kong. In the 1930s, the British anticipated a Japanese attack on Hong Kong, as Wong Nai Chung Gap was a strategic important place of defence, large-scale defensive works were constructed there, including anti-aircraft batteries, howitzers, and machine gun nests. The Battle of Hong Kong began on 8 December 1941, British, Canadian, Indian armies and the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Forces resisted the Japanese invasion commanded by Sakai Takashi, which began eight hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. However, the Japanese were able to control of the Hong Kong skies on the first day of attack. The defenders retreated from the Gin Drinkers Line and consequently from Kowloon under heavy aerial bombardment, on 18 December, the Japanese had conquered North Point, reaching Wong Nai Chung Gap on the next day. However, Allied forces there were defeated by the Japanese on 23 December. As Wan Chai Gap had also fallen that day, the British had no choice. Hong Kong was surrendered on 25 December 1941, thereafter often called Black Christmas by locals. The Governor of Hong Kong, Mark Young, surrendered in person at the temporary Japanese headquarters, on the floor of the Peninsula Hotel
7.
International Finance Centre (Hong Kong)
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The International Finance Centre is a skyscraper and an integrated commercial development on the waterfront of Hong Kongs Central District. A prominent landmark on Hong Kong Island, IFC consists of two skyscrapers, the IFC Mall, and the 55-storey Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, Tower 2 is the second tallest building in Hong Kong, behind the International Commerce Centre in West Kowloon. It is of height to the former World Trade Center. The Airport Express Hong Kong Station is directly beneath it, IFC was constructed and is owned by IFC Development, a consortium of Sun Hung Kai Properties, Henderson Land and Towngas. Tower 1 is also known as 1IFC and branded in lowercase letters, likewise, Tower 2 is also known as 2IFC and branded as Two ifc. 1IFC opened in December 1998, towards the end of the Asian financial crisis, tenants included ING Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, Fidelity International, the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority and the Financial Times. Ernst & Young took six floors, or about 180,000 square feet, in 2IFC, 2IFC, which was completed at the height of the SARS epidemic, was initially available to rent at HK$25-HK$35 per square foot. In 2007, as the economy has improved, high quality office space is highly sought after, the 88th floor of 2IFC is the backdrop of core scenes of the German Thriller Im Schatten der Lombardis by Berit Paton Reid, a German writer based in Dubai, UAE. One International Finance Centre was constructed in 1998 and opened in 1999 and it is 688 feet tall, has 39 storeys and four trading floors,18 high speed passenger lifts in 4 zones, and comprises 784,000 square feet. It is similar in design and appearance to 30 Hudson Street in Jersey City, the building currently accommodates approximately 5,000 people. Two International Finance Centre, completed in 2003, is attached to the phase of the ifc mall. This 415-metre-tall building, currently Hong Kongs second tallest, is quoted as having 88 storeys and 22 high-ceiling trading floors to qualify as being extremely auspicious in Chinese culture. It is, however, short of the number, because taboo floors like 14th and 24th are omitted as being inauspicious – because 4 sounds like die in Cantonese. The highrise is designed to accommodate financial institutions, for example, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority is located at the 55th floor. It is equipped with advanced telecommunications, raised floors for flexible cabling management, the building expects to accommodate up to 15,000 people. It is one of few buildings in the world equipped with double-deck elevators. The 55th, 56th and the 77th to 88th floors were bought by the HKMA for US$480 million in 2001, despite common practice for owners to allow naming buildings after its important tenants, the owners decided not to allow renaming of the building. The Four Seasons Hotel is a hotel that was built near the IFC One
8.
Central, Hong Kong
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Central is the central business district of Hong Kong. It is located in Central and Western District, on the shore of Hong Kong Island, across Victoria Harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui. The area was the heart of Victoria City, although that name is used today. As the central district of Hong Kong, it is the area where many multinational financial services corporations have their headquarters. Consulates general and consulates of countries are also located in this area, as is Government Hill. The area of Chung Wan, named Central in English, was one of the districts in Victoria City. The English name Central became prevalent after the Island Line of the MTR metro system was built in the early 1980s, on some older maps, it and the area to its west are named Kwan Tai Lo below Victoria Peak. It formed a channel, Chung Mun, with Tsim Sha Tsui, the eastern part of Central District has been known as Admiralty since the completion of Admiralty Station in the early 1980s. Central is located on the shore of Hong Kong Island, across Victoria Harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui. It is bordered in the west by Sheung Wan, with the border being along Aberdeen Street and it is bordered in the east by Admiralty, an eastern extension of the central business district. As such, Admiralty is sometimes considered a part of Central, Central is bordered in the south by Mid-levels, an area halfway up Victoria Peak. The boundary between Central and Mid-levels is not clearly defined, for district council elections purposes, the area, together with Admiralty, correspond roughly to the Chung Wan constituency. The boundaries of such constituencies may be subject to modification, the British landed on Possession Point of Sheung Wan in 1841. They soon decided to build a city on the north coast of Hong Kong Island, and the present-day Central was chosen to house major military facilities and an administrative centre. The area soon attracted both Westerners and Chinese to trade and live in the area, and a Canton Bazaar was built between Cochrane Street and Graham Street in 1842, the area was soon zoned for Westerners only, and the Chinese residents were restricted to Sheung Wan. The area was dominated by the presence of Victoria City. The popularity of this area would also boost the population of Hong Kong from 5,000 in 1841 to 24,000 in 1848, Government House and other Hong Kong Government buildings were completed during this period on Government Hill. Various barracks, naval base and residence of Commander, Flagstaff House were built on the east end of the district, between 1860 and 1880 the construction of City Hall, Theatre Royal and other financial structures made Central the heart of Hong Kong
9.
International Commerce Centre
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The International Commerce Centre is a 108-storey,484 m commercial skyscraper completed in 2010 in West Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is a part of the Union Square project on top of Kowloon Station and it was the 4th tallest building in the world when its construction was completed in 2010. Now, it is the worlds 10th tallest building by height, worlds fifth tallest building by number of floors, notable amenities include The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong hotel and an observatory called Sky100. The ICC faces the second-tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, the 2 International Finance Centre directly across Victoria Harbour in Central, IFC was also developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties, along with another major Hong Kong developer, Henderson Land. MTR Corporation Limited and Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kongs metro operator, known in development as Union Square Phase 7, its current name was officially announced in 2005. The International Commerce Centre was completed in phases from 2007 to 2010, the tower opened in 2011, with the Ritz-Carlton opening in late March and the observatory in early April. The height had been scaled back from earlier plans due to regulations that did not allow buildings to be taller than the surrounding mountains, the original proposal for this building was called Kowloon Station Phase 7 and it was designed to be 574 m tall with 102 floors. It would have risen 162 m over the then-current tallest in Hong Kong,2 International Finance Centre, the tower was designed by the American architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates in association with Wong & Ouyang Ltd. Branding and marketing were handled by Wordsearch, construction work was temporarily halted on 13 September 2009 due to an elevator shaft accident which killed six workers. The building has 108 floors above ground and 4 below ground, due to prevalence of tetraphobia in Hong Kong, floors that would have included the number 4 were omitted. Therefore, it is marketed as a 118-storey building, in its basement is the Elements shopping mall, which opened in October 2007. A five-star hotel, The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong occupies floors 102 to 108, the worlds highest swimming pool and bar can be found on the top 108th floor. The building also contains a deck on the 100th floor called Sky100 which opened to the public in April 2011. The 101st floor is leased to a number of five-star restaurants, the rest of the building, except the lobby, contains class-A office space. The ICC Light and Music Show is designed by lighting designer Hirohito Totsune who already designed the system of the Tokyo Skytree. Similar to the daily “A Symphony of Lights Show” in Victoria Harbour, Elements shopping mall official website Wong & Ouyang Ltd. More than half-a-century of architectural experience in Hong Kong, section International Commerce Centre and The Cullinan, pp. 31–33
10.
West Kowloon
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West Kowloon is a part of Kowloon, Hong Kong situated within the Yau Tsim Mong District. It is bounded by Canton Road to the east, Victoria Harbour to the west and the south, further to the north, the area extends to Tai Kok Tsui to the west of the West Kowloon Expressway. Olympic and Kowloon stations are within the area and it is principally a stretch of reclaimed land, which was subsequently developed in the late 20th century. It has been zoned for mixed commercial, residential and leisure development, residential projects which have been realised in the sector include The Waterfront, Sorrento, the tallest residential building in Hong Kong, The Harbourside, and The Arch, The Cullinan. The above all sit atop Kowloon MTR station, a station on the Tung Chung line, the shopping-mall Elements started operating on 1 October 2007
11.
Bank of China Tower (Hong Kong)
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The Bank of China Tower is one of the most recognisable skyscrapers in Central, Hong Kong. It houses the headquarters for the Bank of China Limited, the building is located at 1 Garden Road, in Central and Western District on Hong Kong Island. Designed by I. M. Pei and L. C Pei of I. M Pei and Partners and it was the tallest building in Hong Kong and Asia from 1989 to 1992, and it was the first building outside the United States to break the 305 m mark. It is now the fourth tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, after International Commerce Centre, Two International Finance Centre, the 6,700 m2 site on which the building is constructed was formerly the location of Murray House. Once developed, gross floor area was expected to be 100,000 m², the original project was intended for completion on the auspicious date of 8 August 1988. However, owing to delays, groundbreaking took place in March 1985. It was topped out in 1989, and occupied on 15 June 1990, the building was initially built by the Hong Kong Branch of the Bank of China, its Garden Road entrance continues to display the name Bank of China, rather than BOCHK. The top four and the bottom 19 stories are used by the Bank, ownership has since been transferred to BOCHK, although the Bank of China has leased back several floors for use by its own operations in Hong Kong. The Government had apparently given preferential treatment to Chinese companies, and was criticised for the apparent preferential treatment to the BOCHK. The price paid was half the amount of the 6,250 m² Admiralty II plot, the BOC would make initial payment of $60 million, with the rest payable over 13 years at 6% interest. The announcement of the sale was also handled, and a dive in business confidence ensued. The Hang Seng Index fell 80 points, and the HK$ lost 1. 5% of its value the next day, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect I. M. Pei, the building is 315.0 m high with two masts reaching 367.4 m high. The 72-story building is located near Central MTR station and this was the tallest building in Hong Kong and Asia from 1990 to 1992, the first building outside the United States to break the 305 m mark, and the first composite space frame high-rise building. That also means it was the tallest outside the United States from its year,1990. It is now the fourth tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, after International Commerce Centre, Two International Finance Centre, a small observation deck on the 43rd floor of the building is open to the public. The structural expressionism adopted in the design of this building resembles growing bamboo shoots, symbolising livelihood, the whole structure is supported by the four steel columns at the corners of the building, with the triangular frameworks transferring the weight of the structure onto these four columns. It is covered with curtain walls. In Star Trek, Voyager, the building is used as the exterior of Starfleet Communications Research Center, the building in seen on the attraction Its a Small World at Hong Kong Disneyland
12.
Reinforced concrete
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The reinforcement is usually, though not necessarily, steel reinforcing bars and is usually embedded passively in the concrete before the concrete sets. Reinforcing schemes are designed to resist tensile stresses in particular regions of the concrete that might cause unacceptable cracking and/or structural failure. Modern reinforced concrete can contain varied reinforcing materials made of steel, Reinforced concrete may also be permanently stressed, so as to improve the behaviour of the final structure under working loads. In the United States, the most common methods of doing this are known as pre-tensioning and post-tensioning, durability in the concrete environment, irrespective of corrosion or sustained stress for example. François Coignet was a French industrialist of the century, a pioneer in the development of structural. Coignet was the first to use iron-reinforced concrete as a technique for constructing building structures, in 1853 Coignet built the first iron reinforced concrete structure, a four story house at 72 rue Charles Michels in the suburbs of Paris. Coignets descriptions of reinforcing concrete suggests that he did not do it for means of adding strength to the concrete, in 1854, English builder William B. Wilkinson reinforced the concrete roof and floors in the two-storey house he was constructing. His positioning of the reinforcement demonstrated that, unlike his predecessors, in 1877, Monier was granted another patent for a more advanced technique of reinforcing concrete columns and girders with iron rods placed in a grid pattern. Though Monier undoubtedly knew reinforcing concrete would improve its inner cohesion, before 1877 the use of concrete construction, though dating back to the Roman Empire and reintroduced in the mid to late 1800s, was not yet a proven scientific technology. His work played a role in the evolution of concrete construction as a proven. Without Hyatts work, more dangerous trial and error methods would have largely depended on for the advancement in the technology. G. A. Wayss was a German civil engineer and a pioneer of the iron, in 1879 Wayss bought the German rights to Moniers patents and in 1884 started the first commercial use for reinforced concrete in his firm Wayss & Freytag. Up until the 1890s Wayss and his firm greatly contributed to the advancement of Moniers system of reinforcing, ernest L. Ransome was an English-born engineer and early innovator of the reinforced concrete techniques in the end of the 19th century. With the knowledge of reinforced concrete developed during the previous 50 years, ransomes key innovation was to twist the reinforcing steel bar improving bonding with the concrete. Gaining increasing fame from his concrete constructed buildings Ransome was able to build two of the first reinforced concrete bridges in North America, one of the first concrete buildings constructed in the United States, was a private home, designed by William Ward in 1871. The home was designed to be fireproof for his wife, one of the first skyscrapers made with reinforced concrete was the 16-storey Ingalls Building in Cincinnati, constructed in 1904. Many different types of structures and components of structures can be built using reinforced concrete including slabs, walls, beams, columns, foundations, frames, Reinforced concrete can be classified as precast or cast-in-place concrete. Designing and implementing the most efficient floor system is key to creating optimal building structures, small changes in the design of a floor system can have significant impact on material costs, construction schedule, ultimate strength, operating costs, occupancy levels and end use of a building
