Iron+& +Steel

= = == = = =** Iron & Steel: **=


 * [|Corrugated iron (CGI) in Australia]**

=== Corrugated Iron has always been very popular in Australia because it is very cheap, easily transportable and it replaces more expensive materials such as timber, therefore one man can easily construct a corrugated iron roof or house. Another advantage of this material is its durability, there are some cottages in Australia which may be between 50 and 100 years old and are still habitable. It has also become an icon for many artists because of the architecture made from it. During 1850 corrugated iron houses were transported from England to Australia because they were very easy and quick to construct and it could be rapidly erected with numbered panels. A few years later it could be found everywhere, it became important in the farms for windmills, barns and fences; actually today it is still very useful in farms. Corrugated iron has also many unusual uses such as the construction of churches. Corrugated iron had its biggest impact in the industrial field such as the mining industry and some industrial structures. This material is also used by aborigines because of its easy assembling and its resistance to water. ===

= = = = = **Post- reading activities:** =

= **On your wiki, write your opinion about this quotation from the recording: //"the old cast iron buildings died out. I'm not really sure whether the new skyscrapers killed them, or the new esthetics //" ** =

===In my opinion, this sentence could have a double meaning, saying "the old cast iron buildings died out. I'm not really sure whether the new skyscrapers killed them, or the new esthetics" one part can refer to when the terrible Chicago fire of 1861 wiped out most of the iron buildings in the area and had to be rebuilt immediately, then new buildings ones are made higher and with a new aesthetic. The other sense you can have is that in the architecture the new techniques are always leaving behind the old, then, when creating new construction techniques, faster, economic and far-reaching, old techniques are part of the past. ===

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