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The SMC is honored to have its HQ in Shanghai – one of China’s most vibrant and beautiful cities.
Take a look at some of the stunning architecture near our offices, showcasing the epitome of metallic architecture:
The Oriental Pearl Tower
The Shanghai World Financial Center
Jin Mao Tower
Shanghai Tower
Tomorrow Square Building
Bund Center Shanghai
The term skyscraper was originally used to describe buildings of 10 to 20 stories,
The increase in urban commerce in the United States in the second half of the 19th century augmented the need for city business. So the story of skyscrapers began in second part of the 19th century when steel became one of the cornerstones of the world’s industrial economy. Steel became available in large quantities and at low price and was quickly the material of choice for building construction. but by the late 20th century the word skycraper was used to describe high-rise buildings of unusual height, generally greater than 40 or 50 stories.
Thanks to Steel framing and steel reinforced concrete made curtain-wall architecture possible and the use of the material made the evolution of skyscrapers possible by allowing them to reach new heights.
in 1895 The 10-storey (42 m high)Home Insurance Building was built in Chicago and was considered the first tall building to be supported by a steel skeleton of vertical columns and horizontal beams.
As skyscrapers grew taller, architects and engineers were faced with a new enemy: wind. They had to experiment with new styles and building methods in order to build taller and more innovative structures.
The following buildings are today’s 3 tallest buildings in the world and have all been possible thanks to the amazing properties of steel and the hard work of engineers and architects that brought many innovations in the metal field.
Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE (829.8 m – 163 foors)
Burj Khalifa is the tallest man-made structure in the world it uses a bundled tube design (which is a system that uses a number of interconnected tube frames) and a composite of steel and concrete to hit its record height. Approximately 39,000 tonnes of steel bar were needed for the construction and 15.500 m2 of embossed stainless steel for cladding. Proportionally, the design uses half the amount of steel used in the construction of the Empire State Building thanks to the tubular system.
Tokyo Skytree (634m – 29 floors)
The tower is the primary television and radio broadcast site for the Kantō region.
The structural steel columns of the tower are diagonally jointed at different angles, and their shapes differ from one another. Under these stringent conditions, engineers were required to solve the kind of problems that they have never experienced in past projects
Shanghai Tower, Shanghai (632m – 128 floors)
The Shanghai Tower is the tallest building in China and the second-tallest in the world, surpassed only by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. high strength steel, ultra-thick plates of over 100mm in thickness and other high-end construction steels have been used for the construction of the tower. In addition to that The design of the tower’s glass facade, which completes a 120° twist as it rises, is intended to reduce wind loads on the building by 24%. This reduced the amount of construction materials needed; the Shanghai Tower used 25% less structural steel than a conventional design of a similar height saving approximately US$58 million in material costs.
source : http://www.worldsteel.org, wikipedia.org
Steel is an amazing material that is both economic and sustainable. That’s why Shanghai Metal Corporation manufactures and distributes a large range of Steel products of high quality all over the world.
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Houria // SMC Editor
When you finish drinking your beer from beer can, what do you usually do with an empty can? Just throw it to the garbage? Well, you have more options : make your own beer can sofa, get some hamburger for free or you can use it as a material for a facade of your house.
Can Cube’s facade is a system of aluminium carbonated drink cans which are enclosed in an aluminium frame. It was designed by Archi Union Architects using and integrating renewable systems to make it highly efficient and sustainable. This structure saves the energy that is normally wasted during recycling processes, by reusing them in their current form.
This Can Cube design is an innovative residential and office building in Shanghai, China. The two first floors are used as the office space, the next levels are aimed to be a space for private living.
Aluminium frame keeps the structure light and easily adjustable by its occupants. Windows sections within the structure provide a full control of sunlight during the all seasons. What is more, the facade works along the underground heating, cooling systems, rainwater filtration and solar energy systems, all of this minimize the waste of energy.
Shanghai Metal Corporation offers customers high-quality aluminium and other metal products. For more information please don’t hesitate and visit the website or send us inquiry. English speaking staff will be more than glad to help you. Download also our application by scanning QR code below or follow us on Social Media.
Silvia M.//SMC Editor
Read more articles written by this author here.
Credits : archdaily.com, worldconstructionnetwork.com, googleimages
Are you annoyed when somebody is staring at you while you are at home? Yes, you may have the curtains, but there is still that feeling : “Oh what if people see me?”
Amano Design Office found a way for solving this a bit paranoiac problem. He wrapped the office block in Tokyo with steel ribbons. Their client, Dear Jingumae Building asked them to come up with some idea how to give the existing structure the new facade and keep it from the eyes of the neighbours.
Designers wanted to cover it in such a way that would be accepted by passersby while standing out of surrounded buildings.
This 25 years old structure served as the office before but now it will accommodate a shop on one of its floors. The curving stainless steel wraps around the floors creating curves.
Large windows can be glimpsed through gaps in the louvres and that way allow light to gently enter the building. A design team expected this building to vitalize neighborhood and add richness and variety to the street. An external staircase leads up from the facade to the first floor.
Shanghai Metal Corporation offers wide range of steel products. For more information you can visit the main website or send us inquiry. English speaking staff will help you to find the most suitable product for you. Download our new application by scanning QR code or follow us on Social Media.
Silvia M.//SMC Editor
Read more articles written by this author here.
Credits : dezeen.com, steelmag.com, googleimages
One of the world’s most complex teaware techniques, Tsuiki craftsmanship (‘tsuikidoki’ in Japanese) has its roots among the famous rice fields of Niigata, in the town of Tsubame. Claimed to be the only ones in the world who know and use these techniques with such a perfection, teaware and sake-ware craftshop Gyokusendo reveals the key behind its copperware success.
Patience is all it requires during the twenty to thirty years learning process to become a tsuikidoki craftsman. Such a profession doesn’t cost only time but also big bucks. Trying to give a more modern look to the two hundred year-old technique of hand-hammering copper sheets, Gyokusendo saw the designer extraordinaire Ken Okuyama, a wristwatches lover, especially those from TAG Heuer, as a great partner.
The 51-year-old made a name for himself as the Pininfarina design director behind the Ferrari Enzo, Maserati Quattroporte, and Maserati Birdcage concept. Since leaving the Italian styling powerhouse in 2006, Okuyama has expanded his design focus to encompass everything from iron tea pots to eyewear, furniture to massage chairs, motorcycles to sports cars, buildings to robots and even the next-generation Shinkansen bullet train.
Now, his drawings had to become reality in the hands of the artisans at Gyokusendo who were met with the challenge of turning copper sheets into three dimensional teapot. Experienced smiths master this fine art and are able to strike the copper sheet just enough, which is crucial since it’s difficult to make the copper contract later on.
Gyokusendo’s copperware of a wide variety of colors and shades is unique. The surface oxidization adds a nice patina to the artwork when tin and potassium sulfide are fused onto the surface of the copper.
You may wonder why copper is so special in this art. Well, copper has antibacterial properties, and it purifies the water, meaning that the copper ions mellow the flavor of the tea and sake. So over the time it becomes even more lustrous, and the flavor becomes more full and rich: copper turns ordinary water into ‘good water’, to mellow tea, and mellow sake.
Shanghai Metal Corporation offers a wide range of metals such as copper, widely used in architectural artifacts such as Gyokusendo’s teaware and sake-ware. To find out more, please visit our Website or send your inquiry here. Our English speaking professionals will be more than pleased to help you. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or you could try our new mobile app by scanning our QR code.
Source: gyokusendo.com, designboom.com, motortrend.com
Camilla G.//SMC Editor
Read more articles by this author here.
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