The starry sky of aluminium

A large dome with a starry sky covers the new Louvre Museum in the United Arab Emirates, the first outside France.

(Edición en español)

Hi, “exhausted” is a very comforting word, not only for who uses it, also for people who experiences it. If you will think that your friend and favourite philanthropist, I, Rodolfo, has lost some sensitivity in his mind, if you stop to think will recognize that I have reason. To be exhausted, you had to make an epic by which you are overwhelmed, of tiredness and joy, in equal part. Well, I had one of similar dimensions to the Daniel Defoe, which he must have felt when writing “Robinson Crusoe”, novel in 1,719. Especially taking into account that part of my epic happened in the Robinson Crusoe Island (located in Chile).

I was on the island to decide if it is a place where to build my future construction or if, on the other hand, I leave them the free land so that in the future they could build a park in honour of Defoe and Crusoe. My friend called me in this place, Cristina, already know, the Green concrete, and forced me to make a trip of more than 24 hours for placement of a last very special piece: that of a starry sky of aluminium.

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The two Suns of Beijing

We move in the time and the space to discover what happens to the new building by Zaha Hadid.

Ai Weiwei loved the sunrise, the sunset and, more specifically, the dusk. he loved it because he had experienced this of first-hand in his youth and, although now it were only part of the memory, he could enjoy using it in several times a day. He was only fifteen years when took place the phenomenon who stopped to humanity as no other natural or scientific prodigy could, appeared one Sun, i.e. another star; but with a curious peculiarity: it moved in a position equidistant to the globe and following the same orbit around another star, the Sun.

Ai Weiwei felt a slight sense of relief when he understood the near that the humanity had been of the mass extinction: cults of any nature, urban chaos, the madness, the chaos and the despair. It was as if most of the people in that year (2020) had been waiting for the appearance of the second star to undertake misdeeds unspeakable. The details of how it had reassured the population, it was not something that interested too to the peculiar character of this story. The motivation that moved his interest are of a very different nature.

Ai Weiwei not have only the name in common with the artist of Beijing which had helped the architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron on the design of Chinese Stadium "Bird's nest", he moving also by artistic and architectural interests. He was proud of his name, boasted of knowing all the interventions of his namesake, and, also had a healthy and legitimate interest in the claim political to what he considered abuse or inactivity, incidentally, it was not well received by a large part of their fellow citizens.

Ai Weiwei resided in Beijing, in the Luontianwa district, very close to the Sub-District of Wangjing, he worked at a technology company of last generation. "The mornings", (had decided to continue to call tomorrow to the appearance of the star King by the East), got up to go to work. He loved his work, but even more liked the site where he exercised it: Wangjing Soho Technology Center, built between 2009 and 2014 was, in the beginning of its creation, the architectural forefront of what would come later.

The company owner, Soho China Ltd., made the request to the most internationally renowned architect: Zaha Hadid. The premises were clear: to be a complex, unique, modern and adaptable, functional and with more than 500,000 square meters. The study of Zaha Hadid was raised built a project of two towers, but the idea was scrapped by the current: three towers of 200, 118 and 127 meters in height for use of offices and three pavilions surrounding for commercial uses and other.

The original design, in the form of stones or fishes (as you look at it) and its privileged position in the city, close to the Airport (it is the last thing that the citizens look when come and go from the capital), together with its communication (motorways and trains), before even of the completion of the construction, the towers 1 and 2 be exhausted to 100% and the third to 90% at the time of the inauguration, a success. The total area was 521.265 square meters, distributed in 136.384 for the tower one, 125.131 for the Tower two and 125.307 for the third. To these amounts should add 5.443 square meters in three halls and 129.000 square meters in the basement.

While he parked his bike in one of 8.256 parking lots for this vehicle that has the complex, Ai Weiwei  thought about how fortunate that must have been for the passers-by of the place seeing grow this icon. Not in vain, surround the complex 60,000 square meters of free space, open to the public 24 hours a day, and designed with a park to the South, gardens to the North and areas of activities to the East and the West. The breadth and generosity of the hallways, with ceilings of up to 10 meters high, with receptions of between 1,100 and 2,200 square meters, with 81 lifts for the three towers (with possibility of access control) and offices with between 3.6 and 4.2 meters high, it are friendly to all users.

In the surrounding, the workers of other companies (Microsoft, China Telecom, Panasonic) in telecommunications, or manufacturers as Siemens, Caterpillar could immortalize countless photographs of the uprising of the structure of reinforced concrete, as well as the crowning of the three towers, with their steel trusses. The envelope of the building is composed of external white aluminium slats that walking sinuously (with different thicknesses) the outline of each building and windows with double glazing and low emissivity (protecting of the sun's rays), in addition, reduce the consumption of heating and cooling.

The building complex was designed using the BIM technology and the systems MEP (Mechanical, electrical and Plumbing) with fantastic results helping to reduce the emissions of CO2 and the consumption of electricity and drinking water. This lowered the energy costs a 13% and 42% the consumption of drinking water, with respect to the criteria of the ASHRAE Foundation (for 2015) for the sustainability and energy efficiency. The thermal transmittance (ability to creep out of the heat through objects) of the envelope is U = 0.55 w/m2oC (a higher value of U, does easier the transmission of heat, and, therefore, less protective).

The buildings have also rainwater collection systems for its re-use, recovery of heat from the air systems, sensors controlling the energy efficiency, monitors of electricity consumption in real time, a high-efficiency pumps, fans, boilers and chillers. One of the major achievements was the introduction of high-efficiency electrostatic air filters, that removed the environment harmful bacteria and prevents the entry of particles PM2, 5 (particles of less than 2.5 microns), with this managed to improve the ASHRAE requirements by 30%. The management of the buildings within the plot and design, allowed the anchor in the identity of Wangjing community project.

Ai Weiwei was always the first to arrive at his office, in the tower one, he used to open his window to listen carefully to the horizon, "Yes", he used to think, "definitely to have two Suns not appears nothing wrong".

The Porcupine of Colours

Should be the building of College sober and without life so that the students are form academically? Not!! They thought in Melbourne...

Hello, in the fearless constructive adventure in the I'm embarked, a condition (unchanging) is to choose an island where I will develop the new building, other condition (untouchable) is to build with materials that I go finding in my search and the last condition (undisputed) is that the design is consistent with my popular character and my unique and personal style. This week I've been on the island of Læsø, located in Denmark and famous for the extraction of salt with which trade their inhabitants, have a warm climate for the area where it is located and have the Læsø Kur (a spa in an old Presbyterian Church).

I don´t know if the Lord Aristotle Socrates Onassis (famous for being the richest man of his time and have a good yacht) he is entertained watching the clouds trying to establish similarities with terrestrial objects; what I do know is that I, Rodolfo, I do it, but not with clouds: I look for similarities that may have buildings with other elements. On this occasion I have found a very funny similarity, a building that, in my opinion, is similar to a multicolor porcupine, moreover, is a building that you would want to have in your neighborhood.

Seventeenth stop: The RMIT SAB Building

I have a friend who studied in Melbourne which says that you have not lived if you have not passed at least one year there, of course I think that this girl has not traveled much, but for love I not tell her, however, I understand what she is meant. Melbourne is an open and cosmopolitan city with a great cultural and social life, was capital of Australia (but no longer) and is one of the places with more students from outside its borders. This last is very noticeable in the environment that generates in its surroundings and, also, in the fantastic offer of its University, RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) that has always been at the forefront of his country in architectural design. The best example is the building that causes this article: Swanston academic building (or SAT).

The study of architecture Lyons has been responsible for the eccentric, fun and functional design of the building. The data we have to study: the building covers 35,000 square meters of constructed area arranged in 12 plants (one basement and 11 over the street); it cost 170 million Australian dollars (to change some 133 million dollars or 117 million euros); It contains 12 classrooms, 64 teaching spaces and 10 specialized learning places (each on a different floor), these places are designed so the students can meet, spend the time or, simply, to study their favorite subjects.

The building already has been awarded by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) thanks to its design environmentally sustainable, getting five star-green (there is only a building with six stars in Australia). Inside, the facilities consist of equipment of last generation, walls that are cut sharply, ceilings with irregular surfaces and an extensive palette of colors that administered the areas, besides having green spaces and leisure. Produces hot water using solar energy and has a system for collecting rainwater and grey water for subsequent reuse, a natural ventilation system which involves the ventilation between the rooms and use of more than 500 chilled beams (cooling system through exchange of heat between columns of water and air) in the construction.

The Anodized Aluminium

The building has an aluminum envelope, made of eight different colors, the aluminium envelops vertically the building irregularly, creating angles straight or curved. But the colours are not random, as one would assume, are located according to the area of the city that looks to the façade which occupies it, is (literally) a reflection pixelated, as if we look at us in the mirror and we see pixels, don't tell me it's not great. Part of the building over the Swanston Street is a large overhang of two storeys high, but the facade has two features that you should not miss: the aluminum panels have a triangular form and great part of them protruding from the facade as sunshades (is what makes that I called it porcupine) this together with the double-glazed, helps to reduce the heating effect of the sun, and the second feature, the better for me, is the constant interruption of aluminum skin to see inside the classrooms in large windows.

The Sapphire Aluminium company has been the responsible to supply aluminum panels that the construction company Brookfield Multiplex has used in the façade. These aluminum panels are of 4 mm thick and it is anodized. The anodized consists, basically, in oxidize a metallic element by electrolytic reactions, causing the creation of a layer of oxide which, in the case of the aluminium, protects the material from the outside environment. The oxidized layer that covers the material gives it greater resistance to abrasion, corrosion or climate change, so it not can disperse in the form of flakes or blisters. The anodized aluminum is an ideal material for the outside of our building.

Important: the oxide layer that forms the anodized aluminum is measured in microns (millionths of a meter) and is of vital importance that the thickness of this layer is according with the environment exterior to the aluminum. In our case, the friends of Sapphire have used an anodized of 25 microns, which is optimum even in industrial or marine atmospheres. Each supplier must inform us of the microns that should have its material and if is recommended for the use in our case, but in a building we must not accept less than 10µ (µ = microns) and not more than 30µ (the first case by insufficient and the second by disproportionate).

From now on, if every time you look an aluminum window, you ask how many microns thick have the object, it will mean that you have read carefully. Bye bye.

The Weft of Aluminium

Hi, as I promised I have been reviewing the Atlantic Ocean in search of an island where starting to build. My first stop was in Quebec, in the islands of the Madeleine, they are twelve in total even though only eight are inhabited... I have lots of space to build a beautiful construction!! They have a climate quite soft and... the best are the beaches!, I will like to return there.

Today, with your permission, I am going to make a small literary experiment, as the great writers, such as, for example, Gabriel García Márquez in his famous book "The general in his Labyrinth" whose main character, as you know, is Simón Bolívar. What I propose to is to recount in third person as I discovered the greatness of the following material in my list, the aluminium. You judge by you same if is fiction or reality what I describe below:

Meeting at the airport (seventh stop)

For Rodolfo have to wait, is not an option and, if it were not for the importance of the appointment, perhaps he already had gone to perform other tasks. When their private plane landed in the Cannes-Mandelieu airport, specifically in the hangar 16, he could not imagine how much that he was going to like this experience. The hangar had been designed by the architecture group Comte and Vollenweider which, with a budget of only 15 million of eur, had built this marvel of concrete, wood, glass and aluminum. The total area of the hangar is 3.486 square meters and the offices included in it have 920 of the same unit, in total 4.406 square meters of construction and 6,000 of aeronautical surface.

Rodolfo had travelled in March of the same year at the fair of the wine of Mandelieu - La Napoule but he had not come through the airport, he had used the sailboat of a good friend of French, so he did not know the building, is true that the authorities had invited him to the inauguration, but he did not attended to not overshadow the mayors of the two cities (Cannes and Mandelieu). While the traders were arriving to the meeting, Rodolfo thought that the use of wood in structure was a good idea, it was making triangular lattices with laminated beams supported in solid wood. But, at its criterion, the star of the work was certainly the singular weft consisting of glass and aluminium.

The Weft of Aluminium

When the three traders arrived to the airport (high positions in their companies, two women and a man) Rodolfo knew that the supplier of aluminium profiles was Kawneer, who had also worked in the technical advice that needed this facade, it consisting of triangles and pyramids of glass (diamond points). He realized right away that the solution was basic and complex at the same time: Basic because it was a classic curtain wall (light facade that transmits its load and the thrust of the wind to the adjacent structure) and complex because it has 403 pyramids of triangular base and 403 flat triangles.

The three executives explained their ideas for the business that they had between hands, and Rodolfo listened with patience, but he did not can "to remove the eye" to modular boxes with form of triangle. This had needed six months of work, meetings between the parties, of discipline, of exchange of ideas and much collaboration to devise the operation of the façade (his own meeting seemed it a joke in comparation). But the result was impeccable, the divisions are easily interchangeable if required, the solution enables perfectly the dilatation of each member and the connecting elements are not visible, this makes that the surface look is of glass. The project is perfectly integrated in the landscape of the lower Valley of the river Siagne.

Aluminium

Aluminium is one of the most abundant materials of the Earth, it has many applications: in construction, packaging, transport or decoration. The main advantages are lightness, strength, plasticity and versatility.

This material is extremely malleable; this is a great advantage because with a little effort can be created the most incredible shapes (paper, artistic figures, aluminium profiles most common in the construction...). Another curious advantage is that aluminium will oxidize more quickly than iron, this is an advantage because the oxide layer that forms on the aluminium is transparent and very tough and this prevents that the material can oxidize.

But the most interesting is that the aluminium is a material that, by their qualities, has still defiance for reaching.

I now conclude the experiment of today, but not before you explain that executives were stunned when I showed them my ideas, of course. Bye bye