Architecture is a part of the city. It carries the culture of the city and affects the understanding and cognition of architecture from generation to generation. The world's stainless steel buildings allow you to discover its beauty from another perspective.
LenLye Museum / New Plymouth, New Zealand
With the completion of the LenLye Museum, the most beautiful modern steel building in the world, New Plymouth, a small town located at the southernmost tip of New Zealand's South Island, has attracted widespread attention from the global architectural community. The facade of the building is made of highly polished 316-gauge steel, and has been made into an artistic curvature shape. The building is like a twinkling beacon that attracts the attention of all those interested in steel for the construction, building and construction industries.
The LenLye Center is New Zealand's only artist museum, with a comprehensive display of the influential writings and works of LenLye (1901–1980). Len Lye, a master of experimental animation who transforms dreams into abstract images more transcendently real than the waking world, is inspired by Pacific island art and observations of nature.
Chrysler Building / New York, USA
If the history is turned back to 1930, the spectators at that time were also amazed by the dazzling and beautiful roof panels of the Chrysler Building in New York. This was the first time in history that stainless steel was used as a decorative panel in the main building. Even more remarkable is the fact that the roof of the Chrysler Building has only been overhauled and cleaned three times in the past 87 years -- in 1961, 1996 and 2001. And with everyday household cleaners. The inspection found the roof to be in very good condition.
Two Horses Sculpture/Scotland
The twin horse sculpture 30 meters above the Forth and Clyde Canal in central Scotland is probably the most striking work of public art in the world. Scottish sculptor Andy Scott's giant twin horse heads were inspired by ancient canals. The main contractor of the project is SHStructure. The head of the sculpture is made of 150 tons of 6 mm thick smooth 316L (S31603) stainless steel plate supplied and cut by Outokumpu. The special lighting treatment is the finishing touch of the sculpture, which brings dramatic changes to the sculpture of two horses in the night. The double horse sculpture was originally designed from an artistic perspective, but in the later cooperation, through the combination of traditional manufacturing technology and excellent structural engineering, it was successfully transformed into an outstanding public art work.
Reflection Lullaby - Frankie/Melbourne, Australia
This gnome statue, also known as Reflection Lullaby-Frankie, is 9 meters high and made of mirror polished 316 steel. It is made of stainless steel pipe and 2.5-3mm thick steel plate. The sculpture was commissioned by McClelland Sculpture Park and the Peninsula Link Expressway. This adorable park gnome is often overlooked as a decorative sculpture, and the root word for "gnome" is the Greek word gnosis "knowledge." This sculpture was built to honor a hero; he represents not a hero of an event, but a humorous philosopher in everyday life. He looks at the distant landscape and the highway, in a reflective state, reflecting light and shadow. The artist sees it as a comically heroic adornment of the surrounding environment.
Fuji Swimming Pool / Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
The Shizuoka Prefectural Swimming Pool was designed as the main venue for the 2003 National Sports Festival. The envelope cladding material designed by ShowSekkei Architects is 220M stainless steel produced by NSSC. The designer installed a wooden deck on the outside of the swimming pool and its side surface to create a comfortable open space. The venue is open not only to sports teams, but also to local residents. Passivated stainless steel is used for the exterior of the swimming pool, which looks like a drop of water falling from Mount Fuji. The base part expresses the power of nature and Mount Fuji. This swimming pool has become a "poetry" that the local people will always remember.
Reflect (9/11 Memorial Sculpture) / Rosemead, USA
This stunning sculpture by Heath Satow depicts a pair of hands holding up an I-beam salvaged from the ruins of the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001. The sculpture's two hands are outlined by 2,976 birds, each representing a life lost in the terrorist attack. Designers used 316-gauge steel to improve its corrosion resistance in the coastal city of New York.
Dalarna Media Library / Falun, Sweden
Dalarna University's new museum is now open to the public. The designer, ADEPT Architects, designed the library with multiple functions, making this 3,000-square-meter "knowledge spiral" naturally integrated into the surrounding environment of the Falun campus in Sweden. The special double-skin façade with reflective horizontal lamellas (very thin sheet-like structures) facing the wooden cladding was developed in collaboration with the Danish artist Jeppe Hein. The artist and ADEPT did not treat the development of the exterior wall as an independent work of art. On the contrary, through the fine design of the exterior wall, the surrounding environment and people are reflected with intermittent mirrors.
Media Library / La Madeleine, France
The building covers almost the entire island. Nine triangular sheds are built on regular frame columns, and the north-facing windows softly and diffusely bring light into the room. The roof adapts to the environment, opening up to the landscape and garden, or gently folding away to direct rainwater to the garden through three monster-shaped drip nozzles. In addition, 90 wooden panels are used in the design to make this completely open, flexible and changeable environment produce changeable spaces. The library was designed by TANK firm, Olivier Camus and Lydéric Veauvy using polished stainless steel sheets and large sheets of plate glass on the roof and façade.
Walking Memories / Newcastle, Australia
A new walkway along the Newcastle Escarpment links Strzelecki Lookout to Bar Beach. Perfectly combining the breathtaking natural beauty of Australia's east coast with the enduring beauty of stainless steel. The Newcastle walkway was built for the centennial of the Anzac Army and was officially opened on April 24, 2015, with a total length of 450 meters. The project was designed by EJE Company, the construction party was Waeger Company, and the engineering party was Nothrop Engineering Company. Because the design life is required to be no less than 70 years, austenitic 316L steel with good strength, corrosion resistance and durability is selected. 64 tonnes of stainless steel hollow sections, bridge section frames, and round bars and tubes for the handrails were used in construction. It is a monument to the contributions and sacrifices of the men and women of Australia and New Zealand who have died in war, conflict and peacekeeping.
Parcel House / Surrey, UK
Sustainable architectural design has become a common concern in today's society. Sustainable building design is inseparable from green building materials. If we compare construction materials in terms of the aspects of material sustainability, such as long-term performance, energy and water consumption, environmental impact, recycling, etc., it can be found that stainless steel materials have always won high marks in this regard , especially for buildings with a service life of more than 30 years. Whether it is from corrosion resistance, application in extreme environments, stainless steel is a material with a wide variety of surface finishes, which can better help the designer achieve the pleasing aesthetic effect he is looking for. And the wide range of surface polishing, from ordinary matte treatment to soft polishing, to polished treatment with specific texture patterns and colors, all the way to high mirror polishing, brings more design choices for imaginative designers.
Generally speaking, stainless steel is an ideal material for sustainable buildings, and the above ten stainless steel buildings are just some of the typical representatives, such as the Gateway Bridge in Australia, the landmark "Cloud Gate" in Chicago, the Royal Bank Building in Toronto, etc.
