There are many contributing factors that influence the selection and application of construction materials
The process used to choose these materials is complex. Some of the factors that influence the selection of construction materials are the sophistication of transportation systems, financial availability, availability of the material, cultural, scientific and social development (Ahmed, 2014). However, this paper will discuss the major structural materials used to construct Nicole Flamel in 1410 and Maison de la Lumiere in 2010 in Rome as the modest dwellings.
Major Structural Materials
The major structural materials used to construct Nicole Flamel which was one of the modest dwellings in Rome, Italy in 1400-1800, was the concrete made from the mixture of Pozzolana, lime mortar, stones, water, and aggregate. Then this mixture was hardened and bonded by placing it in a wooden frame to a face of bricks or stones. Another construction was the modest dwelling of Sens in 1598. Romans were skilled in quarrying and hence stones were the main structural material used in different types of application in construction (Brown, 2012). A surface of the building was decorated with sandstone and marble while door frames, steps, and pedestrian areas were constructed using lime lava of granite. In general, the primary construction materials used to construct Nicole Flamel dwelling in Rome were timber, claystone, fired brick, ceramics, mortar, terracotta, stones, and metal. The modest dwelling in the 1800-present is the Maison de la Lumiere. The principal structural materials used are steels, bricks, glass, wood, concrete, and finishing done by use of blue pigment which is the mixture of powdered copper, sand and potassium nitrate (Adam, 2015).
Natural Resources and Probable Location for Construction Materials
The natural resource for concrete to construct Nicole Flamel in Rome in 1410 was derived from volcanic ash that was mixed with lime to make mortar. The natural source of lime was limestone where it was burnt by the builders to obtain quicklime. Quicklime was mixed with water to produce a paste. Volcanic ash was obtained from the Bays of Naples then shipped into Rome in thousand tons. Bricks were derived from the middle of Tiber Valley. It was common for the societies in Rome to use materials close to hand for the need of their building. Therefore, most of the construction materials were obtained from the area around Rome. For example, Pozzolana, lime, and tufa were quarried around Rome and transported down along the Tiber River using wagon all the way down to the construction site. Timbers were derived from the forest at the mountain of Apennine (Brown, 2012). Other materials such as marbles used for lavish decoration were obtained from the Mediterranean Sea and Carrara located at the west coast of Peninsula was the closest source for white marble. The rest of the marbles were imported from North Africa, Greece, Egypt, and Turkey.
Most of the contemporary, 1980 to present, Roman construction materials are man-made products apart from naturally occurring materials. Many naturally occurring materials that have been used to construct the Maison de la Lumiere in Rome as the modest dwelling are carved stones, clays, and woods. The natural source for glass is silica and soda. In glass production, sodium carbonate is used exclusively and probable location for soda (Sodium Carbonate) is Wadi the El Natrun where it naturally occurs on dry beds of the lake. There are some sources of sodium carbonate in Italy. The concrete used to construct Maison de la Lumiere dwelling was typically made with the mixture of clay, chalk, limestone, and Portland cement as well as other ingredients (Adam, 2015). Timbers used for construction were acquired from the mountain areas of the Italian Alps. Stones are quarried locally from a considerable distance. Marbles are obtained from geological strata using a variety of tools of stone cutting such as stone's mason hammer, scrabbling hammer, chisel, bladed cutting hammer, and many more tools. In other words, the natural resources for bricks used to construct Maison de la Lumiere in Rome a few miles away from ancient Nicole Flamel were derived from limestone, wood was cut from the forest, metal extracted from ore and glass made from soda ash, limestone, and sand.
Possible Reason for Selecting the Major Structural Materials
In 1400-1800, the stone was one of the major structural materials. Stones were most logically and common building material used at a basic level. At this period, it was expected even the most primitive culture to collect and arrange stones into a given type of shelter. Therefore, it would be expected of Roman architectures to use stone in the construction of this modest dwelling. Stones were readily available where they were mined from a considerable distance quarry in the territory of Tarquinii. The repeatability and the speed of constructing Nicole Flamel were critical hence concrete and bricks were to be used. Romans used wood to expand their application of the use of truss over that of Greeks which made timber an essential and common material for constructions (Brown, 2012). The concrete was selected because was strong and durable due to the reaction of saltwater in the mixture of quicklime and volcanic ash. The natural resources for all these material were adequately accessed.
The mastery of engineers and architects has made the development of concrete easier to solve the first problem of roofing the contemporary building. The concrete was strong, flexible, convenient, and low in cost making it easier to build vaults and so forth. There were available harder stones at the Alban hills like local Albani and peperino stones to construct the building. The form of the limestone used on the exterior was easily quarried in Tivoli. The majority of domestic dwellings in Roman are built by the various bricks that are not burnt faced with various stucco. This makes the use of bricks become common and logical in the construction of the building (Adam, 2015). The type of marble used to construct was porphyry and granite which is popular in Tivoli.
Compare and Contrast Energy Cost
The construction activities in Rome occupy 2% of the total embodied energy of Europe. In every level of construction, it has the energy cost. Therefore, the energy cost for construction materials is an important parameter to determine energy efficiency for the building (Reddy, 2017).
For the construction of Nichole Flamel dwelling building in the period of 1400-1800, the natural materials were quickly obtained than during the construction of contemporary Maison de la Lumiere. Therefore the energy cost of the natural materials is lower than that of man-made materials from 1980 to present. Less labor and energy cost were required to manufacture such materials such as timber since was locally available and easily provided among the renewable resources. However, in both constructions, the amount of energy spent for transportation of local construction materials such as stones from the quarry to construction sites was considerable and effective for the energy and economic cost. There was recycling of construction materials during the construction of Maison de la Lumiere, 1980-present, unlike during the construction of Nichole Flamel which was significant to reduce the embodied energy in the building. This led to the considerable saving of 20-30% compared to an ancient building that just used construction materials from natural resources. In both constructions, the natural wood material was local material. Therefore, its energy cost was efficient for its transportation to the construction site.
References
Adam, J.P., 2015. Roman Building Materials and Techniques. London: Routledge
Ahmed, A., 2014. Mechanical properties of materials. In Materials Science In Construction: An Introduction (pp. 57-72). Routledge.
Brown, G. B., 2012 “Roman Engineering Works and Their Aesthetic Character.” The Journal of Roman Studies, vol.22, no. 4, pp. 47-54.
Reddy, K.S., 2017. Embodied Energy of Common and Alternative Building Materials and Technologies. Journal of Energy and Building, vol.35, no.2, pp. 129-137
