>
> Been reading bio of James Bogardus, NYC/American inventor of cast iron
facade
> panel systems -- interesting the resistance there was to using cast iron
in
> facade architecture until he had proven all the naysayers wrong by
building a
> few buildings.
>
> ][<en

I read that, and the stuff about his patent problems was really
interesting. Also the assumptions about the indestructibility of the
materials being so wrong.

What it really turned out to be was a technological advance that had much
greater significance, I think, for its aesthetic resonance than it did for
its revolutionary approach.

But, to keep on thread, there is an example of a mass production technology
that was filtered through an aesthetic that was distinguished in its day
and has stood the test of time. What will our children's children say the
same about that we are creating now?

Bruce