The Development of Steel Construction with the Innovation Brought by High-Tech Architecture

Abstract

Steel is arguably one of the most popular materials in the world today, with a strong, reliable, flexible and sustainable structure that is used as the primary structural material in most of the world's infrastructure and buildings today. As a highly malleable and growing structure, the way architects and structural engineers have used steel has evolved over the centuries and, as technology evolves, the use of steel in the architectural world is likely to evolve in the future. The article wants to take the famous cases of steel buildings as an entry point to develop the impact of steel application on modern architectural design and innovation. Three case studies are used to illustrate how steel structures can meet the needs of modern architecture and achieve creative breakthroughs in architectural and structural design. The three cases are the Chicago Home Insurance Building, the HSBC Building in Hong Kong and the Centre Pompidou in France. This paper deeply elucidates and systematically summarizes how structural designers break through tradition and seek innovation when existing structural technology cannot meet the demands of architectural design. How designers break through traditions, seek, and create new techniques that help turn architects' imaginations into reality. It also provides an important basis for future cooperation and innovation in architectural and structural design.