BUILDING
THE art of building comprises the practice of civil
ilding J_ architecture, or the mechanical operations necessary
archi- ^o carry the designs of the architect into effect. It is
ture not unfrequently called practical architecture; but the
adoption of this term would tend only to confuse, by
rendering it difficult to make the distinction generally
understood between architecture as a fine or liberal art
and architecture as a mechanical art. The execution of
works of architecture necessarily includes building, but
building is frequently employed when the result is not
architectural ; a man may be a competent builder without
being an architect, but no one can be an accomplished
architect unless he be competent to specify and direct all
the operations of building. A scientific knowledge of the
principles of masonry, carpentry, joinery, &c., and of the
qualities, strength, and resistance of materials, though of
the utmost importance to an architect, must be attended
by a minute acquaintance with a great variety of less
ambitious details. Such are those which relate to the
arrangement of a plan for the greatest possible degree of
convenience on the smallest space, and at the least expense ;
its transference to the ground ; the preparation and forma
tion of foundations ; the arrangement and construction of
drains, sewers, and vent-shafts ; the varieties of walling
with stone, and of laying bricks in brickwork ; the merit
of the various modes of bonding and tying walls, both
lengthwise and across ; the arrangement of gutters on roofs,
to get sufficient fall, and to conduct the water to the least
inconvenient places for fixing trunks to lead it down ; the
arrangement and formation of flues ; the protection of
walls from damp, of timber from moisture and stagnant
air, and of metals generally from exciting causes ; the cost
of materials and labour, and the quantity of each required
to produce certain results. Together with these, an archi
tect ought to be practically acquainted with all the modes
of operation in all the trades or arts employed in build
ing, and to be able minutely to estimate beforehand the
absolute cost involved in the execution of a proposed
structure. The power to do the latter necessarily involves
that of measuring work, and ascertaining the quantities
done. These things may certainly be referred to the sur
veyor or measurer, but they are not the less incumbent
on the architect, who cannot be said to be thoroughly
master of building, or the practice of his profession, unless
he be skilled in these operations.
Building includes what is called construction, which is the branch of the science of architecture relating to the practical execution of the works required to produce any structure ; it will therefore be necessary to explain the subject in a general manner before entering upon building in detail.
It may, perhaps, be useful to premise that, should it occur to some readers that the present article has too great a tendency to supply information on the manner of building in a modern style, and that the earlier method is not elaborated, it must be remembered that, although the styles of architecture have varied at different periods, buildings, wherever similar materials are employed, must be constructed on much the same principles. Greater scientific knowledge of the natures and properties of materials has, however, given to the modern workman immense advantages over his mediaeval brother craftsman, and caused many changes in the details of the trade, or art of building, although stones, bricks, mortar, &c., then as now, formed the element of the more solid parts of all edifices. The introduction of fir, too, in place of the more solid and durable timber oak, has likewise occasioned similar changes, too numerous to mention in detail, in the sister arts of carpentry and joinery, probably also causing the division of the carpenter s trade of the mediaeval period. Certain exceptional features of mediaeval work did exist, and most, if not all, will, it is hoped, be found referred to in this article.
General Principles of Construction.
The object of construction is to adapt and combine fit materials in such a manner that they shall retain in use the forms and dispositions assigned to them. If an upright wall be properly constructed upon a sufficient foundation, the combined mass will retain its position, and bear pressure acting in the direction of gravity, to any extent that the ground on which it stands and the component materials of the wall can sustain. But pressure acting laterally has a necessary tendency to overturn a wall, and therefore it will be the aim of the constructor to compel, as far as possible, all forces that can act upon an upright wall to act in the direction of gravity, or else to give it permanent means of resistance in the direction opposite to that in which a disturbing force may act. Thus when an arch is built to bear against an upright wall, a buttress or other counterfort is applied in a direction opposed to the pressure of the arch. In like manner the inclined roof of a building, spanning from wall to wall, tends to thrust out the walls ; and hence a tie is applied to hold the opposite sides of the roof together at its base, where alone a tie can be fully efficient, and thus the roof is made to act upon the walls wholly in the direction of gravity; or where an efficient tie is inapplicable, buttresses or counterforts are added to the walls, to enable them to resist the pressure outwards. A beam laid horizontally from wall to wall, as a girder to carry a floor and its load, may sag or bend downwards, and tend thereby to force out the walls ; or the beam itself may break. Both these contingencies are obviated by trussing, which renders the beam stiff enough to place its load on the walls in the direction of gravity, and strong enough to carry it safely. Or if the beam be rigid in its nature, or uncertain in its structure, or both (as cast-iron is), and will break without bending, the constructor, by the smith s art, will supply a check and ensure it against the possible contingency.
materials which are subject to influences beyond the control of man, and all matter is subject to certain influences of that nature. The influences mostly to be contended against are heat and humidity, the former of which produces movement of some kind or to some extent in all bodies ; the latter, movement in many kinds of matter ; whilst the two acting together contribute to the disintegration ordecay of materials available for the purposes of construction. These pervad ing influences the constructor seeks to counteract, by the selection and disposition of his materials accordingly. From the tenacity of wrought iron, and its almost plastic character in the hands of the smith, it is employed to tie together other more bulky but less costly and more rigid materials ; but on account of its exceeding susceptibility of heat, and its consequent expansion and contraction, wrought iron must be used in short lengths only, unless where protected from great alternations of heat and cold. The rapid decay, too, of wrought iron when exposed to humidity, and especially when it is alternately wet and dry,
will teach the constructor not to expect enduring stability
