19th May 2008
Steel: possible solution to housing crisis?
I skimmed today’s Popular Science scan at Modern Mechanix blog: The Steel of the Future. I have to admit, a foundry is seriously cool. I was able to visit one while interning with Timken in Canton, Ohio; they make their own steel there for use in roller bearings. The sheer scale of the processes involved is awe-inspiring — the equipment is just huge — and gives you a deep appreciation for the changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution. (It is, however, incredibly dirty, smelly, noisy, and hot. Fun to visit, less fun to work there daily.)
What intrigued me most, however, was not the discussion of alloys and industry and innovation, it was the closing paragraphs.
There are three pivots on which civilization turns—food, clothing and shelter. Once all three were scarce. Weapons and plowshares made of iron then made food abundant. The cotton gin, the loom and mechanical weaving have supplied us with plenty of clothing. But we still live in houses of wood and brick and stone—the identical materials which have been used for hundreds of years.
One of the next great tasks of iron and steel is to make shelter for mankind as easy to obtain as food and clothing. It should be as easy for an American family to own a home as to own a car. Iron and steel have made it possible for the average family to own a car and iron and its alloys can make it possible for the same family to possess a home with more comfort and conveniences than the modern home today, and at a fraction of the cost.
Uh… no. While iron and steel made it possible for an automobile to exist, it was mass production which made it affordable. It was easy to own a car in 1936 because there were tons of them being made. “Wood and brick and stone” are effective building materials, easily available everywhere. You can just chop down a bunch of trees and put them together in a house shape — voila.
Besides, you can get a house for about the same price as a car. Either buy a prefab mobile home, or be willing to live in a small shack in the middle of nowhere — either way, they’re available. You just have to accept that you can’t live in a large metropolitan area 
We divide the era before consistently recorded history into ages: the stone age (or ages–old and new), the bronze age, and the iron age. Each is named for the hardest material that could be worked into tools (or weapons). Changing to a harder, more durable material for plowshares was tremendously useful. Metal was hugely better than stone, but people never built HOUSES out of bronze or iron.