Zoomlion Headquarters Exhibition Center Changes Form To Mimic Animals
@cooltwins-I5yJpZ
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Oct 25, 2024
Oct 25, 2024
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There are countless architectural marvels in this world. You can start with the Burj Khalifa tower and go on with the list – Capital Gate, CCTV Tower, Rotating towers, Underwater Hotels and what not? Here is one more thing you can add to that ever growing list. It is the Zoomlion Headquarters Exhibition Center in China built by the Californian Architects firm, #-Link-Snipped-#. It is not just any building. It is a building that can change its shape. To be precise, it's facade is supported by some hydraulic arms and it can shift in order to mimic the movements of an eagle, butterfly, swimming frog.
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Zoomlion is one of China’s leading manufacturers of heavy machinery equipment (It is ranked top 10 globally in the heavy machinery industry). The criteria the architects considered for the design are to “match its forward thinking, unique, and mechanistically imaginative corporate image and values.†The Hinged steel and glass panels are built in such a way to resemble a dragonfly’s wings and they are present at the two ends of the building. In order to get the dragon fly wing-like pattern on the glass right, the architects used parametric modeling tools to generate and design the façade. The use of glass with steel has three advantages: It is light but sturdy, It can hide the hydraulic arms, allows proper penetration of daylight. The project that is spread over an area of 3,100 square meters has a total of four floors, giving rise to a total area of 10,074.90 square meters and has a height of 26 meters.
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The double skin system throughout the building is what makes this form-shifting possible. While the inner skin takes care of the enclosure, the outer skin transforms by opening or closing to ape he different animal forms. The north façade can transform into an eagle or a butterfly and the other end can be transformed into a swimming frog. The architects adopted ideographic forms to convey traditional Chinese cultural symbolism for leadership (eagle), ephemerality and fragility (butterfly) and prosperity (toad). Take a look at the video -
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/45696601?title=0&byline=0&color=57597f" frameborder="0" width="600" height="420"></iframe>
Source: <a href="https://www.dezeen.com/2012/07/13/zoomlion-headquarters-exhibition-center-by-amphibianarc/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Zoomlion Headquarters Exhibition Center by amphibianArc - Dezeen</a>
#-Link-Snipped-#
Zoomlion is one of China’s leading manufacturers of heavy machinery equipment (It is ranked top 10 globally in the heavy machinery industry). The criteria the architects considered for the design are to “match its forward thinking, unique, and mechanistically imaginative corporate image and values.†The Hinged steel and glass panels are built in such a way to resemble a dragonfly’s wings and they are present at the two ends of the building. In order to get the dragon fly wing-like pattern on the glass right, the architects used parametric modeling tools to generate and design the façade. The use of glass with steel has three advantages: It is light but sturdy, It can hide the hydraulic arms, allows proper penetration of daylight. The project that is spread over an area of 3,100 square meters has a total of four floors, giving rise to a total area of 10,074.90 square meters and has a height of 26 meters.
#-Link-Snipped-#
The double skin system throughout the building is what makes this form-shifting possible. While the inner skin takes care of the enclosure, the outer skin transforms by opening or closing to ape he different animal forms. The north façade can transform into an eagle or a butterfly and the other end can be transformed into a swimming frog. The architects adopted ideographic forms to convey traditional Chinese cultural symbolism for leadership (eagle), ephemerality and fragility (butterfly) and prosperity (toad). Take a look at the video -
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/45696601?title=0&byline=0&color=57597f" frameborder="0" width="600" height="420"></iframe>
Source: <a href="https://www.dezeen.com/2012/07/13/zoomlion-headquarters-exhibition-center-by-amphibianarc/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Zoomlion Headquarters Exhibition Center by amphibianArc - Dezeen</a>