It Doesn’t Rain from Light Bulbs’ Cloud

Light bulbs don’t seem like an inspiration for making art but two Canadian artists Wayne Garrett and Caitlind Brown used a charm of bulbs and created an illuminating permanent installation.

Cloud Ceiling, as they called the installation, is constructed from hand-bent steel, electronics, motion sensors, reflective mylar, LEDs and 15,000 re-appropriated incandescent light bulbs. This design was created especially for Progress Bar in Chicago, located in heart of Boystown, considered to be the third largest gay community in the United States.

Mentioned motion sensors embedded in the ceiling cause light bulbs’ surface to illuminate as the people move around the space. Those sensors are supposed to track people moving inside the bar and that moving activate LEDs lights to turn on in response.  They monitor not only people’s progress through the space but they also map the social “electricity” between people, customers.

A second miniature Cloud was created in the far room of Progress Bar adding a cohesive vision of the space.

This Cloud installation gives a unique style to the Progress Bar and it makes it visible from the outside as well. Many people walking by just stop and look through the windows. It really does look awesome!

Shanghai Metal Corporation offers customers besides metal products also LED lights and wide range of steel products. For more information visit main website or send us inquiry. English speaking staff will help you to find the most suitable products for you. Download a new application by scanning the QR code or follow us on Social Media.

    

Silvia M.//SMC Editor

Read more articles written by this author here.

Credits : inhabitat.com, incandescentcloud.com, thisiscolossal.com, googleimages

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The Many Architectural Applications of Shipping Containers vol.4

The modularity of shipping containers enables creative architects to design beautiful container homes and hotels. Open top containers can be turned into swimming pools. Containers can even be turned to nice pop-up theaters and nightclubs.

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. Building the “container city” took four days, and another two days to take down, lasting only two weeks in between. Miami also had its container theater in 2012 when the actors of Microteatro por Dinero started showing 15 minute short dramas in containers.

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.

A Singaporean company Venue VBox is using shipping containers to build mobile discotheques. The company’s “Night Box” pop-up nightclub is a container systems that can hold 500 people. Such systems are applied also in other countries. For instance New Orleans’ 2009 and 2010 Voodoo Music experience event has had VIP lounges made of shipping containers. The price, mobility and overall attractiveness makes containers a great solution for all of these applications.

Shanghai Metal Corporation sells many sorts of high-quality shipping containers. They can be easily converted the affordable houses or business facilities. See our webpage for detailed descriptions. Please also visit our social media sites.

    

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: Trendhunter.com, Rocknrollproblems.wordpress.com, Intra-plus.com, WLRN, N-punto, Broadway World,Gizmag, Wired, Miami New Times, Inhabitat, Oplusa.nl

Continue to chapter 5.

Please use the the social media boxes below to SHARE this article to reach all the friends of shipping container architecture everywhere.

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

Container Shops – The New Hot Trend in Modern Retailing!

Conventional retailing includes setting up a store in a fixed location and paying the rent for the use of the real estate. Modern retailing on the other hand, is mobile, meaning that instead of waiting for the customers to come to you, you will be able to easily relocate your business closer to your customers. This simple procedure is going mainstream and it can only be done with shipping containers. Boxman Studios have listed some benefits of container stores.

Wherever there is a container pop-up store there is always crowd, there is no question about that. This phenomenon has been proven by various consumer brands including Nike that “just did it” and designed a shipping container to reach its lacrosse market, making 38 stops in 52 days across the U.S. You can read the whole story in Box Man Studios’s article.

Another reason why container pop-up stores attract consumers is that they are equipped with electricity generators that can be used to set up Wi-Fi hotspots. While surfing online they can also admire ads on containers’ vertically extended walls and perhaps scan your company’s QR code with WeChat.

What’s more, container pop-up stores are 100 % customizable. Containers come with various kinds of door solutions, letting companies customize to pop-up stores according to their brands.

Adidas also executed a successful pop-up campaign in 2012’s Boston Maraton where it attracted many people among 27,000 runners. The German sports brand also showed its creativity by bringing  a shoe box shaped container store to Chicago’s Lollapalooza music festival in 2010.

Especially clothing companies are going for pop-up retailing. Besides Nike and Adidas, also Lacoste and Uniqlo have had their container shops to visit California and New York.

Generator enabled and refrigerated containers have also made it possible for restaurant businesses to step in the pop-up business. During the construction of the new World Trade Center in New York City, the fast food chain Subway offered the workers an exclusive Subway store consisting of three stacked containers moved higher and higher up the building as the building grew. Starbucks has also opened some innovative drive-thru container stores across the U.S.

Shanghai Metal Corporation is a proud provider of shipping containers that can be used as homes, hotels, offices or pop-up shops. Our website offers a detailed description of our containers and container houses. Besides visiting our site, please also remember to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Please also try our new mobile application by scanning our QR code with your tablet or mobile phone.

 

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: Illy pop-up café in Melbourne, Archiexpo.com, Retaildesignblog.net, Designboom.com, ContainerTech.com, Starbucks newsroom, Boxman Studios, Eventmarketer.com

Welding in Its Aesthetic Form

In the movie the Grudge Match, starred by Sylvester Stallone, Robert de Niro and Kim Basinger, Stallone’s character Henry “Razor” Sharp welds metal sculptures from metal trash in his garage. In real life, many welding artists’ artworks have left a mark in our modern culture.

   
  A welded predator from the Arnold Schwarzenegger’s blockbuster movie.

Besides a process used in civil engineering projects, welding has gained a lot of popularity in sculpting art since the 1930’s. Welding is a fundamental method for reshaping steel structures and a way for some artists to give their contribution to art.

The Chicago Picasso in Civic Center Plaza.

For instance, Pablo Picasso designed a 50 feet and 162 ton sculpture as a gift to the people of Chicago. “The Chicago Picasso” was revealed in 1962 and has since stayed in good shape thanks to its protective coating of iron oxide. Other artworks worth mentioning are e.g. Richard Serra’s The Matter of Time found in Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum, Jeff Koons Balloon Dogs and Alexander Calder‘s La Grande Vitesse in Michigan.

Just like welding industrial objects, also art welding requires a premium welding machine. Shanghai Metal Corporation also has to offer a high-quality welding machine that is widely used in boilers and other container manufacturing, electrical construction, the construction, aviation / aerospace industry, vehicle manufacturing and other industries in a variety of metals.

 

To know more about our welding machine, please visit our website. Also follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. You can also download our new mobile application by scanning the QR code below.

 

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: Colorcoat-online.com, Cirrusimage.com, Wikipedia,  Joblo.com, Forbes.com, Howtospotapsycopath.com,  Mig-welding.co.uk, Thinng.com

The Bean Boasts the Beauty of Stainless Steel

Anish Kapoor with his creation, the Cloud Gate

Cloud Gate is a Stainless Steel sculpture designed by Anish Kapoor, an Indian-born British artist. To locals, Cloud Gate is better known as “The Bean.” For obvious reasons, the nickname, “The bean,” was coined from its bean like shape.

This massive artwork rests as the centerpiece of AT&T Plaza at the Millennium Park. It took over two years to create “The Bean.” Did you know that Cloud Gate was constructed from 2004 to 2006? Additionally, it took about 168 Stainless Steel plates to be welded together in order to create this masterpiece.

An example of Stainless Steel Plates

Amid the crowds of people and the fingerprints left by tourists and locals alike, the highly polished exterior actually has no visible seams. As a matter of fact, Cloud Gate had to be polished more than a thousand times in order to remove all the visible seams. Today, you will see workers polish “The Bean” to maintain its reflective property.

Several workers polish the bean

Now, let’s get down to details. Cloud Gate measures 10 meters by 20 meters by 13 meters. Its arch is about  3.7 meters. Additionally, this grand sculpture weighs more than 110 tons! To put things into perspective, an average car only weighs about 1 to 1.5 tons. Can you imagine lifting more than 100 cars stacked together?

According to Anish Kapoor, liquid mercury served as his inspiration for the design. Liquid mercury is a reflective liquid, which is why the surface of Cloud Gate reflects and distorts the beautiful skyline of Chicago. The underside of Cloud Gate contains a concave chamber. This concave chambers warps and multiplies the reflections of the objects or the people under it. Furthermore, this chamber has become extremely popular with locals and tourists. It has been a favorite for photo-taking due to its reflective characteristic.

Cloud Gate’s concave chamber

Did you know that this unique sculpture was close to not being made? There were many technological concerns regarding construction and assembly. In addition, there were many technical and financial concerns in terms of maintenance. Many experts believed there was no way to make the design come to life. However, there were a few who believed it could happen and made it happen.  Luckily for us, Cloud Gate was formally dedicated on May 15, 2006. This Stainless Steel Sculpture has become an attraction and a go-to spot local and international people alike. If you get a chance to visit Illinois, make sure to stop by Chicago’s Millennium Park.

“The Bean” in Millennium Park. This photo is from Anish Kapoor’s website.

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