Information: Clean, Green Building Machines Part 1

I would define a building machine simply as a building that operates as a machine. Merriam Webster defines a machine as "an assemblage of parts that transmit forces, motion and one to another in a predetermined manner." Merriam Webster defines a building is defined as "a walled and roofed structure built for permanent use." The Fairmount Water Works and Chicago Water Works and Water Tower are building machines: structures that originated as working machines housed in beautiful architectural shells. They are also green buildings and have been environmentally friendly, because of their functions, since they were built.

The Problem:

In the Nineteenth Century, both Philadelphia and Chicago's citizens suffered from diseases due to poor sanitation and polluted waterways. In Philadelphia, communities suffered from a yellow fever epidemic that killed almost ten percent of the population. The streets were littered with dead animal bodies and sewage and the city did not have an efficiently operating water or sewage system. Similar environmental hazards existed In Chicago, leading to typhoid and other diseases. Similar to modern times yet much more severe, each city had environmental hazards on their hands, turning to clean water supplies as a solution. Clean water is important for the health and welfare of all living beings

The Solutions for both cities: Clean water supply

Fairmount Water Works, located along the edge of Center City, built 1812-1815

The Fairmount Water Works, located along the Schuylkill River, originally brought water into the buildings with steam operated gears. Later, the river was dammed to control the flow of water into the buildings with ease while turbines directed the flow. The excess water supply was housed in a reservoir, located on a hill adjacent to the water works; later becoming the home of the Philadelphia Museum of Art .

Chicago Water Works, located in downtown Chicago, built 1869

In Chicago, water was drawn into the Water Works building through a tunnel that extended to Lake Michigan. In the building, the water was treated and excess water was directed into the Water Tower building located directly across the street. The tall standpipe located inside the water tower once housed the excess water. Similar to Philadelphia, in the nineteenth century, Chicago manipulated it's river by reversing the Chicago River, a downtown river, their purpose was to eliminate sewage from flowing into Lake Michigan, the city's drinking water supply.

Chicago Water Tower Built 1869

Similar cities. Similar problems. Similar solutions. Green from conception, during the nineteenth century, these "building machines" operated as the main water treatment center for two large, major American cities, supplying fresh water to thousands of residents. Each city solved the problems with beautifully designed, engineering marvels that remain standing and in use more than 100 years later. Philadelphia set the standard as the first city in America to supply fresh drinking water to its residents, providing an example that many cities followed. While the Chicago Water Work's building remains partially in operation, the Fairmount Water Works, built more than 50 years before Chicago's Water Works and Tower, no longer operates in it's original capacity but as a museum and restaurant.

Fairmount Waterworks. Photo by Kayla Middleton. Used with permission.