1 Le contexte
La course au bâtiment le plus haut, le plus original, le plus audacieux, le plus etc... a toujours existé. Dernièrement le Shard à Londres ou 1WTC à New York ont fait la une mais d'autres très rapidement prendront la suite...
Voici quelques documents qui vous permettront de faire le point sur les plus célèbres skycrapers, leur histoire, leurs caractéristiques, les défis que les ingénieurs et architectes ont du relever.
En guise d'introduction voici un court texte trouvé sur the kidswindow.
'Engineers,
architects and builders who work on tall skyscrapers have to make
certain that their structures will not tip over no matter what kind of
weather or other problems occur.[...]
From
the Egyptian Pyramids to European cathedrals and castles people have
wanted to build something grand and beautiful. Today skyscrapers are
popular because you can put a lot of building on a little bit of land if
you build UP instead of OUT.
When
a skyscraper is about to be made the ground has to be inspected. It
must be judged strong enough to hold the weight of the completed
building. Then digging begins for the basement foundation. This
underground part of a skyscraper is much larger than many people
realize. This is what supports all of the skyscraper's weight.
Today
iron and steel is used to make a steel skeleton for skyscrapers. These
materials are very strong and flexible. This makes the building sturdy
and still lets it sway a little in high winds. The skyscraper needs to
have some sway to keep from being damaged.
Workers
use vertical metal columns and horizontal beams to create a framework
for each floor. Diagonal metal beams are sometimes used to give extra
strength to the skeleton of the building. This is very similar to how
you build things with your own building sets at home.
The
entire skeleton design of a skyscraper is known as the superstructure.
The superstructure rests on the basement substructure. Substructures are
built on foundations of concrete and steel that are very thick. Large
metal pilings connect the substructure floor with the bedrock layer of
the earth deep underground. This makes the substructure strong enough to
support the heavy weight of a skyscraper.
Today
most outer walls of skyscrapers seem to be made completely of glass.
2 Les documents
2.1 Quelques sites
a) discovery
b) skyscraper
2.2 Deux power point sur l'architecture moderne (texte et photos)
2.3 Un reportage sur la construction d'un skyscraper
3 Let's make the most of it !
