A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words[framework of diagonally intersecting metal, concrete, or wooden beams that is used in the construction of buildings and roofs. It requires less structural steel than a conventional ](_blank)steel frame
Steel frame is a building technique with a "skeleton frame" of vertical steel columns and horizontal I-beams, constructed in a rectangular grid to support the floors, roof and walls of a building which are all attached to the frame. The developm ...
. Hearst Tower in New York City, designed by Norman Foster
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Nor ...
, uses 21 percent less steel than a standard design. The diagrid obviates the need for columns and can be used to make large column-free expanses of roofing. Another iconic building designed by Foster, 30 St Mary Axe
30 St Mary Axe (previously known as the Swiss Re Building and informally known as the Gherkin) is a commercial skyscraper in London's primary financial district, the City of London. It was completed in December 2003 and opened in April 2004. ...
, in London, UK, known as "The Gherkin", also uses the diagrid system.
British architect Ian Ritchie wrote in 2012:
Buildings utilizing diagrid
* Shukhov Tower in Polibino
The Shukhov Tower in Polibino is the world's first diagrid hyperboloid structure designed in 1896 by Russian engineer and architect Vladimir Shukhov. The tower is today located in the former estate of Yury Nechaev-Maltsov in the selo of Poli ...
, Polibino, Russia (1896)
* Shukhov Rotunda
Shukhov Rotunda was a round exhibition pavilion built for All-Russia Exhibition 1896 in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. It was built in 1896 with a diagrid hanging cover (tensile gridshell – diagrid roof, Russian Empire patent No. 1894, dated Marc ...
at the All-Russia exhibition, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia (1896)
* Shukhov Tower
The Shukhov Radio Tower (russian: Шуховская башня), also known as the Shabolovka Tower (), is a broadcasting tower deriving from the Russian avant-garde in Moscow designed by Vladimir Shukhov. The free-standing steel diagrid st ...
, Moscow, Russia
* Hearst Tower, New York, USA
* 30 St Mary Axe
30 St Mary Axe (previously known as the Swiss Re Building and informally known as the Gherkin) is a commercial skyscraper in London's primary financial district, the City of London. It was completed in December 2003 and opened in April 2004. ...
, London, England
* 1 The Avenue
1 The Avenue is a building in Spinningfields, Manchester. It is situated on Deansgate adjacent to the grade-I listed John Rylands Library.
Architecture
The building consists of two mirror-image parallelograms, stacked one on top of the other, re ...
, Manchester, England
* CCTV Headquarters
The CCTV Headquarters serves as the headquarters for China Central Television (CCTV) formerly located at the old China Central Television Building some to the west. Feted by architecture critics as perhaps "the greatest work of architectu ...
, Beijing, China
* The Bow, Calgary, Canada
* Seattle Central Library
The Seattle Central Library is the flagship library of the Seattle Public Library system. The 11-story (185 feet or 56.9 meters high) glass and steel building in downtown Seattle, Washington was opened to the public on May 23, 2004. Rem Koolhaas an ...
, Seattle, USA
* Capital Gate
Capital Gate, also known as the Leaning Tower of Abu Dhabi, is a skyscraper in Abu Dhabi that is over tall, 35 stories high, with over of usable office space. Capital Gate is one of the tallest buildings in the city and was designed to incline 1 ...
, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
* Aldar headquarters, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
* Guangzhou International Finance Center
Guangzhou International Finance Center or Guangzhou West Tower, is a 103- story, skyscraper at Zhujiang Avenue West in the Tianhe District of Guangzhou, Guangdong. One half of the Guangzhou Twin Towers, it is the 24th tallest building in the w ...
, Guangzhou, China
* Queen Elizabeth II Great Court
The Queen Elizabeth II Great Court, commonly referred to simply as the Great Court, is the covered central quadrangle of the British Museum in London. It was redeveloped during the late 1990s to a design by Foster and Partners, from a 1970s ...
at the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, London, England
* Nagoya Dome, Nagoya, Japan
* Westhafen Tower, Frankfurt, Germany
* Merdeka 118
Merdeka 118, formerly known as Warisan Merdeka Tower and KL 118, is a 118-storey, 678.9-metre-tall megatall skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the world's second-tallest structure, surpassing the Tokyo Skytree at and the world's sec ...
, Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, sub ...
, Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
* MyZeil, Frankfurt, Germany
* The Crystal
City Hall, in the London Borough of Newham in east London, is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority (GLA), the regional government for Greater London. It replaced the previous City Hall, in Southwark in 2022. The building opened ...
, Copenhagen, Denmark
* United Steelworkers Building, Pittsburgh, USA
* Tornado Tower, Doha, Qatar
* Newfoundland Quay
The Newfoundland is a residential skyscraper, located between Westferry Road and Bank Street on the Isle of Dogs, London.
South Quay Properties, Ltd., a subsidiary of Canary Wharf Group, submitted a planning application to Tower Hamlets
T ...
, London, England
* Lotte World Tower
The Lotte World Tower () is a 123-story Megatall skyscraper located in Sincheon-dong, Songpa, Seoul, South Korea. It opened to the public on April 3, 2017, and is currently the tallest building in South Korea and the sixth tallest in the worl ...
, Seoul, Republic of Korea
See also
References
{{reflist
Bibliography
Design and construction of steel diagrid structures
by K. Moon, School of Architecture, Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
The diagrid system of Hearst Tower
by the Steel Institute of New York
Building
Construction
Building engineering
Roofs
Structural system