Hello, friends. I bring to your attention a number of old photos of the consequences of a fire in Europe in the late 19th - early 20th centuries.
But in fact, these photos will be of value only in the context of the fact that the fire reveals interesting details of the architecture of buildings of that time. Today, many of these details are very difficult to find, as the buildings have been reconstructed and modified, and in the end, these details may simply be hidden. So let's go.
These are the consequences of a fire in some unidentified palace. Pay attention to how many metal parts there are in its design, and how perfect they are.
This is the roof of some respectable building after a fire. As you can see, all roof structures were made of metal. The tree was completely missing. However, something burned out here so that the iron parts of the roof were bent.
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These are three photos of a fire in some unfinished building. Notice how many metal bonds are in the background dome. And in the foreground is a dome made of a material similar to precast concrete. Very strange technology. Note the bricks of the dome drum. These are clearly not foam blocks, as now.
And these are the consequences of the fire of 1915 in the famous Moulin Rouge, which was the personification of debauchery among the Bolsheviks. Pay attention to the half-burnt chandeliers. They are connected by brackets to the roof parts, and there are no traces of junction boxes for wiring at all.
These are the consequences of a fire in one of the houses in Paris. A very strange construction at the mezzanine. Why have round through windows always been made in mezzanines? It reminds of tower-lamps, where similar windows were made in large quantities.
These are the consequences of a fire in one of the neighborhoods. Pay attention to the fitters on the right. What are they doing? Electricity is being pulled on the left, it can be seen. The dimensions of the insulators on the traverses on the right are much larger than on the left. Were there even thicker wires? And the traverses themselves are of a very strange shape.
Very strange balusters are located on the second floor cornice. For some reason they are not on the first or on the third floor. And judging by the color, the small balls are metallic.
These are the consequences of a fire in a palace. It turns out that a metal connection comes to every eaves outlet. For what? In addition, many metal bonds protrude from the masonry.
These are the consequences of a hospital fire. It can be seen that the spire of the building, passing through the roof, is connected to some kind of corrugated ball. And from the tops of the columns there are thick metal ties somewhere under the roof.
These are the consequences of a fire in some temple. Again, you can see that a crocheted metal connection comes to each socket on the ceiling. And this metal connection is in the ceiling beams. Why did the architects need such complexity? If you look closely, metal bonds are sticking out from almost everywhere. There are a lot of them at the corners of the columns.
This is a photo of the aftermath of the 1914 Tuileries Palace fire. A very strange material for masonry walls. The feeling that this is a polygonal masonry made of geopolymer concrete, from which, oddly enough, metal bonds stick out. The columns inside the building are finished with metal, on which candlesticks are fixed.
Well, from the photo you can understand that the metal ties in old buildings were far from being used for reinforcing purposes. And their huge number is at least commensurate with the consumption of rolled products for modern reinforced concrete. And most likely, these metal connections were intended for electrical functions, but not in the form in which these functions exist at this time, for example, as grounding. All metal connections went to such building details as the dome, mezzanine or spire. This did not exclude other items, such as strange balls or the outer details of the cornices. What physical processes took place at the same time, one can only guess.
All the best, see you again.