“(…) the old cast iron buildings died out. I'm not really sure whether the new skyscrapers killed them, or the new esthetics.”
This sentence summarizes in a very concise way, part of the history of iron. As years go by, every modern material is replaced by a newest one, regardless of the circumstances under which such change occurs. Due to the impossibility of cast iron of being used for big constructions, people needed to find a new material (obviously, the idea of stopping the development of the cities was not an option). So, it was not because of the skyscrapers or the esthetics. Mankind was moving on, and architecture with it.
This sentence summarizes in a very concise way, part of the history of iron. As years go by, every modern material is replaced by a newest one, regardless of the circumstances under which such change occurs. Due to the impossibility of cast iron of being used for big constructions, people needed to find a new material (obviously, the idea of stopping the development of the cities was not an option). So, it was not because of the skyscrapers or the esthetics. Mankind was moving on, and architecture with it.