Architecture, unlike any other art, is a marriage of aesthetic and technical considerations where the limits imposed by the latter circumscribe the expression of the former. As the engineer Pier Luigi Nervi once wrote, “Good technology seems to be a necessary though not sufficient condition for good architecture.”¹

Architecture and science have had strong links to one another, through the Vitruvian tradition, from the Renaissance to the mid-18th century. With the arrival of the Second Industrial Revolution (roughly 1860-1914) came the tools necessary to build the city as we know it today: electricity, steel, and the production line. Mass-production demanded standardization, which in turn increased occupational specialization. As former trades professionalized, the divergence between architecture and engineering accelerated. Despite this disparity, the complexity of modern construction, coupled with the breathtaking pace of industrial innovation in the 20th century has necessitated technical knowledge on the part of both architects and engineers.

These brochures, which represent a broad sampling of technical developments (and missteps) from the 20th century, illustrate not only changes in technology but also the broader context—social, economic, cultural—within which they took place.

1. “Asbestoseal.” The Master Mechanics Company; Cleveland, OH; c.1920-1922.
2. “Just the Touch of a Finger…” The Majestic Company; Huntington, IN; c.1925.
3. “The Coulson Patent Corner Post and Bar for Store Fronts.” J.W. Coulson & Company; Columbus, OH; c.1902.
4. “What Paint and Why.” National Lead Company; Chicago, IL; c.1904.
5. “Modern Sanitation,” Vol. X, No. 4. Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company; Pittsburgh, PA; April 1913.
6. “Seeing Red?” [advertisement for Nodis brand sanitary toilet seat covers]. Borst Engineering, Inc.; Buffalo, NY; c.1930s.
7. “Fresh Air For the Lungs Induces Perfect Health.” The Pullman Automatic Ventilator Company; York, PA; c.1904.
8. “The Principle and the Proof.” Kohler Automatic Power and Light; Kohler, WI; 1924.
9. “Hand-Power Elevators.” Eaton & Prince Company; Chicago, IL; c.1900-1910.
10. “Dumb Waiters and Elevators.” The Storm Manufacturing Company; Newark, NJ; 1903.
11. “The City Unburnable.” The National Fireproofing Company; Pittsburgh, PA; 1906.

^{1. Pier Luigi Nervi. Aesthetics and technology in building, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965). ↩}