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Source Collection
Alan Karchmer collection, Special Collections Department, University of Memphis Libraries
Identifier
9_29.A3
Description
Cast Iron Twins, 81-87 S. Second Street, Memphis, Tennessee. Built in 1891. Photographer: Alan Karchmer. © Alan Karchmer.
The only surviving structures which use cast iron throughout their facades. The components were produced by the Chickasaw Iron Works.
Hidden behind fire escapes and dingy paint, Cast Iron Architecture may seem somewhat insignificant today, but in its time, with gleaming panes of glass and freshly painted facades, these structures were the pride of the city. Architecturally they represented one of the most important building innovations of the Nineteenth Century and provided a giant step toward the development of the modern skyscraper. The advantages of cast iron were many, allowing not only for a greater economy of construction, but ambitious aesthetics as well. Combining strength and lightness with facility of erection, building components were mass produced in great variety and sold through voluminous catalogues. Prefabrication of structures became a new possibility. The main problem to overcome was fireproofing. With structural advantages far beyond traditional masonry techniques, cast iron columns and beams allowed a drastic reduction in the mass of structural walls giving way to economically advantageous plate glass show windows at the ground floor. With the invention of the elevator the skyscraper was born. A number of Memphis foundries- including the Chickasaw Iron Works, Livermore Foundry, and W. C. Ellis Iron Works- supplied building components throughout this region.
Date Created
2021
Date
undated
Recommended Citation
"Cast Iron Twins, Memphis" (2021). Images. 112.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-mss-karchmera2/112
Keywords
Architecture--Tennessee--Memphis.
