Week 10, Metal, Reading: "Architectural Metal Surfaces" by William Zahner

I am sorry to do this but this reading was especially technical, which while necessary does not make the stuff of intelligent comments or even questions, so I am going to have to treat this like a brief summary of the reading with a few really dorky snippets about learning a new factoid I didn't have before.  I am apologize a head of time, but when the reading is dry and technical it doesn't yield much creativity on my end. 

The reading begins with a very brief introduction, about a four sentence paragraph followed by an encyclopedia like technical reading of various metals, starting with aluminum.  Each metal is assessed for its positive and negative attributes. Each metal's individual resilience and properties when exposed to environmental factors is discussed, followed by a list of potential surface and industrial treatments that would mitigate or at the very least ameliorate the potential damage from environmental exposure.  The author also included some dialogue regarding the complexities of coloring metals and the specific method used for each coloring technique, whether the metal be silver or lead.  Every Metal's reflective qualities was added along with the stability of the material.  As a practical matter, the maintenance and weathering of the different metals was discussed, where some metals require more upkeep than others, as is the case with black aluminum because stain spots and dirt can potentially accumulate on the surface.

Every metal section was concluded with a discussion about how the metal is commonly used in combination with other metals.  For example,  aluminum is commonly used as both a protective and aesthetic coating for steel.  Throughout the reading the author was constantly comparing one metal to another, offering snippets such as that copper and copper alloys are softer than most other materials and polish easier because of that softness.  Some of my favorite factoids garnered from this little technical gem of a reading included the history behind the karat system used as the measuring standard in the gold industry, not a well known fact that I had not been privy to before this reading.  I also sort of understand some of the logic reasons behind gold's preciousness, that it is a sort of magic metal that is not susceptible to tarnish and how highly reflective it is.  Oh, and I can now walk into a Williams and Sonoma and tell the uptight sales lady that cast steel is the same darn thing as cast iron.