Concrete Thoughts

Thomas Edison’s Concrete House

The light bulb may have been Edison’s brightest idea, but it certainly was not the only one as recently, we discovered that the modern poured concrete house was also a product of his brilliance.  In a presentation by the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Assistant Professor Matt Burgermaster explains how in the 1917, “Thomas Edison invented and patented a new construction method to mass produce prefabricated, seamless concrete houses”. Many of these homes are still standing in towns around West Orange, New Jersey which is where Edison’s factory once existed, which reconfirms the durability and strength of concrete as a building material.

“Edison’s one-of-a-kind system was patented for the purpose of building a single, repeatable structure without any parts, with a single act of construction,” said Burgermaster, “And, remarkably, 100 years later many of these houses remain standing.”

Burgermaster add “My hope is that this ‘lost’ chapter in the early history of concrete construction will demonstrate that Edison not only left a mark on the field of architecture right here in our back-yard, but that his unique approach to design thinking offers a model for how today’s architects and designers can add value to the process of technological problem-solving.”

Sources: TG Daily