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| Sunday, 6 March 2005 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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From huts to skyscrapers
Gradually man learnt to use branches of trees and tree trunks to build safer shelter from animals and the elements. The first abodes were huts, made with branches of trees and whatever other materials available. Mud, leaves, logs, bamboo,bark, straw and twigs were some of the materials the early men used to build these huts, which became their homes. According to the climate and the area, the shapes of these huts changed. Some were in the shape of a dome, and some had circular or pyramid shaped roofs. From this type of construction they graduated to build stone walls, especially around their villages, for protection. Later they began to build houses with stone, mud and bricks, for important people in the villages. The use of stone and bricks as building materials began to catch on eventually and soon everyone started to build such homes, especially in the cities. Even though there are people in many parts of the world who still live in primitive huts or thatched houses, most people in the world live in solidly constructed houses today. Brick, sand, mud, wood and stone are some of the materials used to make these houses. Of course, the early man was not familiar with multi-storeyed buildings. However, there are records of multi-storeyed brick houses being built in ancient Rome as far back as 2000 years ago. With many people wanting to live in properly built houses, soon a shortage of accommodation cropped up in the medieval walled cities. This led to the construction of many-storeyed structures where more people could be accommodated. People started building higher and higher, and skyscrapers began to dominate the skylines of many a nation. However, these high-rise buildings needed solid building material to hold them up. So, man experimented various possibilities, with the technology he had. Iron, reinforced concrete and steel were used to construct these tall structures, especially in the cities, to meet the growing demand for homes and offices. If we look around the city of Colombo, we could see many such sky-scrapers. The World Trade Centre is the tallest building in our country. The Petronas Towers in Malaysia are the tallest in the world.
And, what's more, unlike the early primitive huts, today homes and buildings are equipped with modern amenities hot and cold water, air conditioning, fans, electricity, central heating, and so on. You may never understand how people could live without all the comforts most of you enjoy today. But not only in the past, even today amidst all the development, there are people who live in primitive conditions due to poverty. |
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| Politics | Produced by Lake House |
Primitive men were not experts in constructing houses. They usually
sheltered from bad weather inside caves, and slept under trees, not in
comfortable beds like most of you do, today. 
Today building techniques have improved a great deal and various modern
methods are used to construct houses and high-rise buildings for offices,
hotels and so on. Instead of building walls, by laying bricks one on top
of the other by hand, walls are built in sections. These 'prefabricated'
sections are then assembled with the aid of cranes in a very short time to
construct huge high-rising structures, that we see everywhere today. 
