The best structural system for multi-story residentials, high-rise office buildings and parking garages is steel and steel joists are often the best value on the basis of cost per square foot, scheduling, useable space, and design flexibility. All of the advantages really depend on the structure being built, but overall steel tends to be less expensive than concrete, tends to be a very flexible material, not be as damaged by the elements or fire, where as wood rots when exposed to moisture and humidity and concrete degrades when exposed to salt molecules. Steel offers the benefit that unused material can be resold back to steel fabricators for recycling and concrete is considered an earth friendly material, but any extra concrete cannot be resold for recycling and, unfortunately, just gets thrown away.

Steel Study

The Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower

The form, volume and hyperboloid structure are generated by two ellipses, one at foundation level and the other at an imaginary horizontal plane just above 450 metres. The tightening caused by the rotation between the two ellipses forms the characterizing "waistline" of the tower, and a densification of material. This means that the lattice structure, which at the bottom of the tower is porous and spacious, becomes denser at waist level. The waist itself is tightened, like a twisted rope; further up the tower the lattice opens again, accentuated here by the tapering of the structural column-tubes.

The Advantage of Steel

Case Study of Steel

ModelNorth Elevation

West Elevation

South Elevation

Roof Plan

Interior Rendering

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