Uploaded on 2014-12-09 by GeorgePapam

Together with the structural design class, we made a visit to a construction site in northern Athens. We were introduced to conventional building methods and basic materials of construction. I chose this image, because many materials are depicted and thus the point about the globalized economy can be easier made. Let us notice at first the wave-like sheets of aluminum. Aluminum is produced in Greece and thus, it was not imported. Next to them there is plastic material for tubes and waterproofing. Although there are factories producing such products in Greece, the contractor imported these material. There is no connection with any particular country, as the contractor bought it from where the cheapest were found considering the transport as well. A little at the back, rigid polyurethane for insulation can be spotted. This material is not produced in our country and was imported. Next to it, a poke of cement lies. Cement is produced in large quantities in Greece and the contractors in Greece prefer to use this local cement, as its usually cheaper. In the background, the roof slab and the columns are made from reinforced concrete. As it is obvious, steel bars for the reinforcement is needed. However, Greece produced steel in very small quantities, something which makes this product non-competitive and expensive in our country. That's why, steel used in this construction site is imported. Once again, the place of import doesn't matter, as steel is produced in many countries. I chose mainly materials that have no origin that matters, because I believe the globalization of the construction is better explained that way. However I can refer to the windows of this building site, which were larger than 6m span, which made it impossible to find them in Greece. Such window frames are only produced from a specific factory in Switzerland and there is where they came from. [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14181678411794812.jpg