2000 years. The longest continually operated overland "railway" was the 6km long Diolkos, of ancient Greece, used to transfer ships from the Aegean to the Ionian, over the Isthmus of Patras, built around the 8th c. B.C. it was last used by the Byzantines in the 12th c. A.D. ImageImageImageImage
The trackway was built to let military and merchant vessels avoid the lengthy and dangerous detour around the Peloponnese peninsula. It would have taken 3 hours to transport a ship, and on several occasions entire military fleets were moved over a couple of days. ImageImage
There would have been local experts that helped the ships across for a fee but the main power was the muscle power of the human crews of the ships. A warship with hundreds of experienced rowers could probably have pulled their ships over in a matter of minutes. Image
Here is a charming and well made narrated dramatization of how a 4th c. B.C. trading vessel uses the Diolkos. Recommended watching when you have the time (20 minutes).

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More from @wrathofgnon

28 Oct
Tachikawa Hiroaki's (1933-2016) famous giant "bird's eye view" painting of Edo (now Tokyo) as it would have looked like in 1862, accurate down to individual buildings and outhouses. Tachikawa was a master of the three-point perspective and often worked with modern city planners. Image
Even as renderings became popular his help in visualization of modern projects was much sought after. Here's a close up of the 1862 view of Edo. Each building lot was researched before drawing, through city archives, maps, surveys etc. Image
It was common for cities to commission three-point paintings. Here is one of Okayama City in 1932 by Yoshida Hatsusaburo (1884-1955). You can see barracks, factories, trunk roads, railways, canals, ponds, etc. Industrialization is in full swing. ImageImage
Read 5 tweets
22 Oct
Hassan Fathy's 1980 Murad Greiss House could (overlooking a couple of things) as well have been built in 2020 A.D. or 2020 B.C. for a high ranking government official or land owner. Hand built in local limestone and lime mortar. Animated CGI here:
Minus the swimming pool and the picture windows it is not difficult to imagine how a well to do ancient Egyptian would have instructed his architect and builders on the site. Here are photos from the 1980 construction site. ImageImage
The barrel vaults and the domes were made in slightly stiffer mortar and what looks like fired clay bricks (ancient Egyptians would have used sun dried bricks which probably works just as well). The wood construction beams would have been removed and reused: wood was valuable. ImageImageImageImage
Read 4 tweets
16 Oct
The most insidious aspect of modern architecture is how it pretends to be considerate of the common good: a friend of the people. "Modern buildings are so much safer to construct. You wouldn't understand!", "Modern buildings are so much more economical. You wouldn't understand!" ImageImage
But the worst is also the boldest lie: "Modern buildings are so much more beautiful. YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND." ImageImage
"Modern construction and modern ideals are the only way to house the poor: it is called progress. YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND." ImageImage
Read 5 tweets
14 Oct
“No house can be conceived more warm and cosy than that built of cob, especially when thatched.”
— A Book of The West, Sabine Baring-Gould, 1899
“Cob walls for garden fruit are incomparable. They retain the warmth of the sun and give it out through the night, and when protected on top by slates, tiles, or thatch, will last for centuries.” — A Book of The West, Sabine Baring-Gould, 1899
“Walls of mud, or of compressed earth, are still more economical than those of timber, and if they were raised on brick or stone foundations...their durability would be equal to that of marble, if properly constructed and kept perfectly dry.” — An Old Authority, 1833
Read 9 tweets
9 Oct
Gus Willard Van Beek (1920-2012, Dept. Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution) on the thermal properties of traditional earth and mud homes, citing a 1970s experiment in Iran. Stellar result from the "free dug at site material". ImageImage
A preliminary understanding of how soil and earth works as a building material can be easily tested digging a hole and measuring the temperature therein. (Photo of the authors at a site in Egypt.) ImageImage
In the late 1950s James Marston Fitch and Daniel P. Branch measured temperatures in traditional adobe homes in the U.S. Southwest. You really do not need air conditioning in a house built like this: the interior temperature is stable. (Example of a traditional home to the right.) ImageImage
Read 4 tweets
5 Oct
Thread of threads on how to reduce the urban heat island effect. #1: Plant more street trees to reduce heat accumulation in streets and buildings.
#2: Allow where suitable natural climbing vines and vegetation to help shield buildings, keeping them cooler, reducing the need for air conditioning.
#3: All this street vegetation and the many trees will require a lot of water. To help, make all buildings water independent by encouraging rainwater harvesting. The goal should be to cover 100% of domestic use.
Read 14 tweets

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