Good Ol' Fort Worth Texas

Our second tour on January 12th, 2013 after the Trinity River Vision came to a stop at the old Fire Station No.1 in Downtown Fort Worth. We were welcomed by architects Bill Peterson and Geoff Reiner of Jacobs Engineering. As we entered the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, the presenters assured as that throughout time, no city or society has been able to manage resources responsibly. The energy that is consumed in construction is a substantial amount which brings us to today. Instead of taking up space to build outward, societies are now trying to reduce footprint in a sustainable way and build up, just like old times.

150 years ago, timber, wood and stone were the materials of choice in Fort Worth, TX. The designs when constructing a home, a saloon or any building had to be adjusted for the environment. These buildings did not have a lot of insulation, living areas did not want to be placed in the front of the house where the sun was the strongest, big porches were needed for shade, tall windows for ventilation and also the home was raised off the ground to prevent flooding. However, this was not enough effort to where you could say that the first era of Fort Worth (1860s - 1870s) managed resources responsibly. In the second era of Fort Worth, around 1880s, steel, brick and cast-iron were the material of choice for buildings. The buildings also started to add square footage upward with multiple rooms in each floor. This is where mix-use zoning started taking place and you could have a saloon on the first floor and retrieve to your home in the second and third floors. As the buildings got taller, the city became dense and more populated. Cast iron columns had the advantage of being slender, compared with masonry columns capable of supporting similar weight. That saved space in factories and other kinds of buildings, and enabled architects of theaters and churches to improve sight lines when supporting balconies. Cast iron also became the standard support structure in the construction of greenhouses but late in the 19th century, modern steel was developed and it proved to be more suitable than cast iron for structural and support purposes.

Mr. Geoff then brought us to the beginning of the 20th century where we were still not remotely close to building sustainable. Air conditioning completely changed the way buildings are made while other buildings had limited work space for people since an atrium would be constructed which can be defined as wasted space. An interesting fact that I didn't know was that in the 1970s, there was a movement towards green buildings but it suffered and collapsed due to the image it portrayed. People didn't think highly or thought quality when having things made out of recycled tires or the look of a solar panel on the roof of your house. People were not attracted nor where they ready for any of these recycling ways or sustainable ideas that we now so much desire in the 21st century.