Illuminating a Container Cave With Improvised Narrative

Holdup Architecture‘s artwork for 2011 Kobe Biennale competition is one of those examples that show how creativity and shipping containers are a match. We previously discussed the competition’s container guitar and container kaleidoscope, but this is something far beyond!

When a user enters the chalkboard-like container cave, there is nothing but darkness. It’s only when she approaches the center of the room, when the container’s UV start activating making one’s clothes glow in the darkness. The glow grows stronger as the user approaches a drawing board. The light become the brightest when the user draws patterns.

This work called “Off To On” that cost the artists $6000 was awarded with honors. The interior part was equipped with steel gratings, mesh sheets, rubber rolls and other below shown materials that enabled this self-made exhibition. They also utilized a special software for this purpose. 

The users are controlled only to the drawing interface. What the users draw is not controlled except by the surrounding intense darkness. What kind of story the visitor tells through her drawings tells a lot about the visitor herself. It is the surrounding that prevails her inner thoughts.

The company has described the Off to On as a setting where the visitor is assimilated to a speleologist discovering a primitive cave with prehistoric drawings painted on the rock, except that drawings are not relics from past ages. Basically, the whole space is dark until he draws on the table. Drawing is the only way to be involved and visualize the «self-made exhibition». (via HoldUp Architecture)

There are no words to describe this experience. You should try it yourself. If you are a container artist, you can always contact us in Shanghai Metal Corporation to find the necessary material. Our wide variety of shipping containers can be seen here. Check also our social media sites for future updates.

    

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: Holdup Architecture, Inhabitat

Please use the the social media boxes below to SHARE this article to reach all the container artists everywhere.

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The Artistic Masterpieces of Shipping Containers

Shipping containers can be turned into almost any kind of facilities, one of them being arts. In Japan there is actually a container art competition called Kobe Biennale that motivates contestants to realize their wild ideas on how the interior space of shipping containers can be used to express art.

The biannually held competition has produced various creative pieces of art.  In our former article we already discussed how Japanese artist turned a recycled shipping container into a playable guitar that lets visitors to know how it feels to be inside an instrument. In 2013 the designers Masakazu Shirane and Saya Miyazaki introduced a new container art concept.

Garden is a huge origami-inspired kaleidoscope built of 1,100 triangular mirrors that are connected by zippers. It’s big enough to walk inside for an immersive experience and small enough to fit in a shipping container. (via Gizmondo)

Even though these container artworks’ interior is rather extraordinary, their outer appearance can be described as being usual. Still, because shipping containers are made of corrugated steel walls, they can rather easily be modified by cutting and welding. Our article on South Korea’s container sunset observatory shows an example on how containers can be welded together in different angles. They can also be flipped upwards like the container train station in the Netherlands. They can also be turned into Japanese origami shaped structures like this instance in Rotterdam (via Superuse).

If you are a container artist looking for materials, we have them in Shanghai Metal Corporation. See our wide variety of shipping containers in our website. You can also contact us directly through this form. Check also our social media sites for future updates.

    

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: Core 77 , Kobe Biennale, Gizmondo, Superuse

Please use the the social media boxes below to SHARE this article to reach all the container artists everywhere.

São Paulo Presents Marvellous Container Art

The Brazilian city of São Paulo organized a design weekend during August 2014.  During the weekend some fabulous pieces of design art were presented. One of the providers was a Brazilian design company Contain[it] that transforms pieces of shipping containers into beautifully designed furniture.

Among the works on display were a lounger chair, lamps, vases, modular shelving, and a table that are made out of shipping container scraps.  The scraps are collected from the company’s shipping container projects that turn discarded containers into new spaces.

Shipping containers are becoming a mainstream construction material for green and environmentally friendly construction projects. In general, the world is suffering from oversupply of shipping containers because they are seldom reused for shipping.

Shipping container architecture solves the problem of used shipping containers turning into waste, but only partially. Shipping container houses, villas, hotels etc. need to be modified through welding which creates waste of container scraps.

Contain[it] solves this problem by giving the container scraps a new life and therefore creating art with zero waste. The company’s mission is to create art that gives an impact in an intelligent way. The company really gives a great contribution for the well-being of nature.

Today sustainable architecture and shipping containers are becoming synonyms. No other building material can be same time as durable and low-cost as shipping containers. Shipping container architecture enables designers to create environmentally friendly construction that can easily be retrofitted to any natural environment.

As an experienced provider of shipping containers, Shanghai Metal Corporation is proud of serving its international clients as well as giving a major environmentally friendly contribution to the construction industry. You can also familiarize yourself with our product offering by visiting our website. You can also send us an inquiry about any product you have in mind, and our English speaking staff will give you assistance. Please also visit our social media sites in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: São Paulo Design Weekend, Contain[it], Inhabitat

Shakespeare Reborn in Container Theaters

We cannot all be masters, nor all masters cannot be truly follow’d.                   –a Quotation from Shakespeare’s Othello

The modularity of shipping containers enables creative architects to design beautiful container homes and hotels. Open top containers can be turned into swimming pools. Open side containers can become excellent theaters.

In 2013 a local architecture studio O+A designed the architectural setting of the 20th Over het IJ Festival and transformed Amsterdam’s shipyard into a huge restaurant area with theatrical stages. The building of the “container city” took four days, and another two days to take down, lasting only two weeks in between.

Shipping containers theaters have also been used in Miami. In 2012, the actors of Microteatro por Dinero  performed in 15 minute short dramas for 15 people six times a night in a shipping container. The concept of “por dinero performance” (in English for money) has its roots in Madrid where local actors turned an old bordello into a commercial mini theater and spread the word in social media.

Besides drama, shipping containers have also been used as movie theaters. Container mini theaters showed short films in New York in 2011. The event was a part of USA Network’s Character Project and it also was supported by the director of the Alien Saga, Ridley Scott. Audience was placed in 18-seat air conditioned screening pods to watch the shorts. The tour also took place in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago.

It is yet unclear when does this “Broadway in a box” concept spread globally and go mainstream. Still, because of these events, mobile mini theaters will gain popularity in cinema and drama industries.

Whenever there is a need for shipping containers, one should always contact Shanghai Metal Corporation. Our wide collection of shipping containers can help companies to pack great entertainment in a box. For more information about our shipping containers, please visit our website (http://www.smccontainer.com). Please also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. Try also our new mobile application by scanning the QR code below.

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: WLRN, N-punto, Broadway World, Gizmag, Wired, Miami New Times, Inhabitat, Oplusa.nl

Why Does Nature Create Spirals?

Why are hurricane patterns spiral? What gives galaxies their spiral shapes? Why is the same shape attached to so many flowers, plants and animals? It seems that the nature has a way reprinting the shape all over again. Is this all just am coincidence, or could there be some logic?

The spiral found in the nature is actually a golden spiral, a spiral defined by the golden ratio φ, a constant that has an approximate value of 1.6180339887. In mathematics and arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio between the sum of those quantities and the larger one is the same as the ratio between the larger one and the smaller.

In geometry, a golden spiral is a logarithmic spiral whose growth factor is related to φ, the golden ratio. Specifically, a golden spiral gets wider (or further from its origin) by a factor of φ for every quarter turn it makes.

The world is full of golden spirals, not only in shapes, but also in behavioral patterns. For example when a hawk approaches its prey, its sharpest view is at an angle to their direction of flight — an angle that’s the same as the spiral’s pitch.

The explanation is that the golden ratio φ that forms golden spirals in the nature has a connection to so called Fibonacci numbers. Fibonacci numbers were discovered by an Italian mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci in the early 13^th century. The first two Fibonacci numbers are both ones and the others are defined as the sum of two preceding numbers giving a sequence of 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181,… The n:th instance in the Fibonacci sequence can be also calculated by using the number φ.

Fibonacci discovered the sequence by observing rabbits’ reproduction patterns. Two rabbits are likely to have two babies. Then there will be three new babies, again five new babies, then eight, thirteen, twenty one and so on. The same pattern has been found also in bees.

Besides nature, human beings have been interested in creating spiral shaped objects for centuries. In Shanghai Metal Corporation we continue that legacy with our Spiral Tube Forming Machine that is designed to manufacturing spiral tubes and pipes out of steel for industrial use. The Spiral Tube Forming Machine is equipped with a Mitsubishi PLC control panel and transformer. For more details, please visit our website. Please also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. You can also download our mobile application by scanning the QR code below.

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and Original Articles:  io9.com, inspirationgreen.com, originalbeauty.wordpress.com, bukisa.com, world-mysteries.com, Fibonacci Numbers on Wikipedia, WordPress

Artistic Copper Refurbishment Reinvigorates Maine’s State House Dome

Workers at the Maine’s State House Dome are currently part way through a $1.3 million process of having its old, leaking, green, oxidized Copper dome replaced with a shiny brand new one. As work continues to replace the 7,000 square feet worth of Copper atop the State House which is more than 100 years old, lawmakers on the Legislative Council have accepted a plan to sell much of the metal to artists and craftsmen as a way to preserve and maintain the metal’s iconic and cultural value. Originally plans were to sell the old Copper roof as scrap metal to help fund the refurbishment, approximately $12,000 was expected to be raised upon recycling depending on the ebb and flow of Copper spot market prices.

However, a more thoughtful proposal of re-purposing the oxidized Copper as raw materials for local artists to turn in to sculptures, jewelry and other art pieces was made and the Legislative Council have given their nod of approval. “Any time you can incorporate Maine artists into a historically significant project, and potentially employ Maine artists, that’s a good thing,” said Julie Richard, the Maine Arts Commission’s executive director.

This new repurposing proposal has five core elements that will help determine where the old copper will end up.

Firstly, some of it will be melted down and recast into commemorative collectables and keepsakes such as coins and medallions which will be sold or distributed to the public. Small workable sheets will be sold to local jewelers and artisans to be remade into various jewelries, Current market value for oxidized green copper is about $400 for a 1 meter-squared sheet but it will likely be sold for cheaper than that. A portion of the material would be given or sold well below market value to Maine sculptors or educational institutions for use in creating 3-D works that may be sold or used for educational purposes. Some is hoped to turned into new public art commission for the State Capitol Complex in Maine. Finally, pieces that are not intact enough to be repurposed into anything will be recycled as scrap and the proceeds used to help fund future projects of the Maine Arts Commission.

The restoration project is expected to be finished by October this year.

Shanghai Metal Corporation stocks a wide selection of Copper-related products and raw materials for all your construction or manufacturing needs. Please take the time to browse our online catalog at: http://www.shanghaimetal.com/Copper–tpl3.html.

Zenn B.//SMC Editor