The Ambiwalence of Smoke: Pollution and Modern Architectural Historiography

摘要

The idea of decorative architectural materials presupposes the existence of supporting structural materials. In architecture, we are not accustomed to think of decoration outside of its relationship to structure. This binary encompasses other terms used to describe materials, such as envelope and structure or skin and bones. Terra-cotta and steel are considered early modern architecture's emblematic decorative and structural materials, respectively. Landmark skyscrapers such as Burnham and Root's Reliance Building (Chicago, 1895) or Adler and Sullivan's Wainwright Building (St. Louis, 1891) are some of the examples commonly used to establish this canonical categorization.