Building Research in the United States

Abstract

THE report of the British Building Mission, appointed by the Minister of Works in July 1943, on building methods in the United States, which has now been published by the Ministry of Works (H.M. Stationery Office, 4d. net) contains, among much that is of general interest, a good deal of special interest to scientific workers. This is particularly true of the first part of the report, dealing with the design of buildings. The report points out that American designers, knowing that many buildings of no great age are threatened with obsolescence of equipment and general design, show a tendency to assume that, in view of the rapidity of scientific development and social change, future generations of Americans will demand to live and work in buildings evolved by themselves and appropriate to their own times; they appear to believe that many of the buildings of the present should be designed strictly for their immediate purpose, and that a limited, life for a building may be an advantage rather than the reverse. American manufacturers are accordingly seeking to produce new materials fulfilling the general requirements of serviceable building but costing less than traditional materials and not necessarily having the same length of life.