Masonry Magazine March 1972 Page. 27
It's High Time for the Masonry Industry to Rebuild Its Image
By JOSEPH H. NEWMAN
Vice President
Tishman Research Corporation
New York City, New York
Only a short generation ago, curtain wall, in the form of metal (primarily aluminum), was born. It was a post World War II baby that came upon the office building scene in response to several factors. Firstly, more buildings were being designed taller. Height exacts a large structural penalty from exterior walls that are heavy. Next there was the strong architectural wish for a sleek streamlined look. Also, there was the matter of the value of construction time, particularly in an office building seller's market where substantial dollar savings could be achieved for each month that rent could be collected earlier than otherwise.
There too was the need to overcome inferior workmanship and disappearing craftsmanship which were fast becoming the rule rather than the exception with masonry materials. All this meant factory fabricated components, assembled in the field "dry."
Finally, and don't underestimate this, there were dedicated aggressive young pioneers in the early marketing teams whose persistence and elan helped get a concept off the ground that we all take for granted today.
There were those in the masonry business who scoffed at the early inroads made by metal curtain wall. They reasoned that the dollar volume of construction was growing rapidly, and even without the exterior wall market of the monumental office skyscraper, they would do well. After all, these buildings required concrete block for their shafts and stairways, and multifamily housing with traditional brick exteriors was a growth market that couldn't afford curtain wall.
But today this is changing. Prominent building product producers are close to economical curtain wall solutions for the residential market, and the relatively high price of metal curtain wall (over $6.50 per sq. ft.) is not so high as masonry costs increase at a faster rate because of their high labor content.
And the race is on to replace masonry in building interiors with dry systems. Almost every major building recently completed or under construction is using gypsum board shaft wall construction. My company hasn't built or specified a building utilizing concrete block in the interior for three years now. When the highly visible buildings such as the World Trade Center goes dry and public building authorities such as New York State's Urban Development Corporation touts its advantages, you know there's another nail for the coffin.
Lack of productivity, non-aggressiveness, poor attitude, poor performance and quality, runaway prices, fragmented and neglected marketing-all these business viruses infected the masonry industry even though the demand for the concrete, masonry, brick look never really decreased.
Now there is an antidote, a bright light. Dow's Sarabond high-bond mortar that permits one to fabricate brick panels away from the site or at the site-but in-
Tishman investment building in Cleveland the Central National Bank Building was completed two years ago and featured the use of Sarabond Hi-Bond Mortar.