The Art of Steel

Virginia Beach, VA, February 25, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Upstate New York’s picturesque landscape is a milieu of the unexpected. It is a place where evenly plowed fields collide with patches of brilliantly colored wildflowers, and the highest mountain peaks descend sharply into deep, yielding lakes.

Tucked into these surroundings is a parcel of privately-owned land where the region’s confluence of elements has been utilized and built upon. It is here that East meets West and grass meets steel.

Welcome to the Art Farm.

In the spring of 2008, Christophe Mao, the director of Chambers Fine Art in New York, saw the realization of his vision to create a structure for contemporary Chinese art in upstate New York that was functional and, in effect, a piece of art itself.

The new Chambers Fine Art building is a storage facility as well as a venue for Chinese artists to display their work. It is constructed from precision-engineered corrugated steel that was custom made by SteelMaster, a purveyor of high quality steel arch buildings and roofing systems based in Virginia Beach, VA.

“After discussion with my architects in China and Switzerland, we settled on steel as the most cost-effective and aesthetically pleasing material for the effect we wanted to achieve,” says Mao. “The SteelMaster product was chosen for its lightness, durability, and strength—facilitating the creation of open spaces without internal support.”

According to Simon Frommenwiler, an architect with HHF architects in Switzerland, who designed the space in conjunction with artist Ai Weiwei, the abstract metallic outer appearance of the building complements a group of existing sculptures that are situated throughout the property. “Using one material simplified the process, and SteelMaster was very cost effective,” says Frommenwiler. “When we realized we could use the material to create something that looks like a sculpture, we were sold.”

Exteriorly, the three separate SteelMaster buildings that make up the space were put on a solid concrete slab that follows the existing grade of the land. The three buildings and levels are connected through a continuous cascading ramp in the middle axis. This middle hallway with its ramp works as access for all spaces, allows an easy way of exchanging big pieces of art between storage and showrooms, and works at the same time as a picture gallery.

Interiorly, the ceilings are covered with soft, white PVC batting which creates the illusion of a cozy pillow top. “We wanted it very soft and bright on the inside to create a quiet and cool space,” says Frommenwiler.

For delicate goods such as paintings, consistent indoor temperatures are needed, which is a challenge in upstate New York because of the enormous changes in temperatures. The batting and the SteelMaster structures create a hermetically closed and insulated envelope that conserves the indoor climate and supports it when necessary.

“I am very satisfied both with the close relationship between the material used – steel and internal insulation – and the concept of the architects,” says Mao. “For people that are considering building a structure, I recommend they give steel serious consideration as an alternative to more commonly used materials.”

For more information on SteelMaster, visit www.steelmasterusa.com or call (800) 341-7007.

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