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Aluminum

Metals

Aluminum is a lightweight, corrosion-resistant metal that became commercially available for construction in the twentieth century once electrolytic refining made it affordable, prized in architecture for a strength-to-weight ratio far better than steel and for the thin, naturally oxide-protected skin that shields it from further corrosion without painting. Its malleability allows extrusion into precise structural and glazing profiles, which made it the material of choice for curtain-wall framing, window systems and roofing from the mid-twentieth century onward, and its reflectivity and ability to be anodized in a range of colors have also made it a common cladding and decorative material on modernist and contemporary buildings.

Aluminum
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Source Alcoa Care-free Home (Wikipedia)
Source Apple Park (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Central Park Tower
Source Getty Center, Wikipedia
Source HSBC Building Hong Kong (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Jin Mao Tower
Source Louvre Abu Dhabi (Wikipedia)
Source Q1 (building), Wikipedia
Source Sainsbury's, Camden (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Taipei 101
Source Transamerica Pyramid, Wikipedia
Source Villa Girasole (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Willis Tower
Sources
Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia: Aluminium, introductory paragraph, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium
Quote, Wikipedia: Aluminium, introductory paragraph, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium
Aluminium (the Commonwealth and preferred IUPAC name) or aluminum (North American English) is a chemical element; it has symbol Al and atomic number 13.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.Britannica: Aluminum, opening paragraph, on crustal abundance, https://www.britannica.com/science/aluminum
Quote, Britannica: Aluminum, opening paragraph, on crustal abundance, https://www.britannica.com/science/aluminum
Aluminum is the most abundant metallic element in Earth’s crust and the most widely used nonferrous metal.
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Apple Park (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationSeen In: Apple Park, infobox material field: Aluminum, glass, concreteView the Source
Transamerica Pyramid, Wikipedia
Seen In: TransAmerica Pyramid, Article body
Quote, Seen In: TransAmerica Pyramid, Article body
The top of the Transamerica Pyramid is covered with aluminum panels.
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Alcoa Care-free Home (Wikipedia)
Seen In: Alcoa Care-free Home, Introduction
Quote, Seen In: Alcoa Care-free Home, Introduction
end walls constructed completely of plate glass framed by aluminum and supported by wood columns that are clad in aluminum
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Wikipedia: Willis Tower
WikipediaSeen In: Willis Tower, Wikipedia lead
Quote, Seen In: Willis Tower, Wikipedia lead
The facade is made of anodized aluminum and black glass.
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Wikipedia: Taipei 101
WikipediaSeen In: Taipei 101, Wikipedia article
Quote, Seen In: Taipei 101, Wikipedia article
The facade system of glass and aluminum panels installed into an inclined movement-resisting lattice contributes to overall lateral rigidity by tying back to the mega-columns with one-story high trusses at every eighth floor.
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Wikipedia: Jin Mao Tower
WikipediaSeen In: Jin Mao Tower, Wikipedia article
Quote, Seen In: Jin Mao Tower, Wikipedia article
The exterior curtain wall is made of glass, stainless steel, aluminum, and granite and is criss-crossed by complex latticework cladding made of aluminum alloy pipes.
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Wikipedia: Central Park Tower
WikipediaSeen In: Central Park Tower, Wikipedia article
Quote, Seen In: Central Park Tower, Wikipedia article
The facade for the upper stories is mostly a curtain wall made of aluminum and glass.
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Getty Center, Wikipedia
Seen In: Getty Center, Wikipedia article
Quote, Seen In: Getty Center, Wikipedia article
The buildings at the Getty Center are made from concrete and steel with either travertine or aluminium cladding.
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Sainsbury's, Camden (Wikipedia)
Seen In: Sainsbury's, Camden, Wikipedia article
Quote, Seen In: Sainsbury's, Camden, Wikipedia article
It is a high-tech architecture structure, with use of exposed steel, aluminium panels and glass.
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HSBC Building Hong Kong (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationSeen In: HSBC Building Hong Kong, Article text
Quote, Seen In: HSBC Building Hong Kong, Article text
It consists of eight groups of four aluminium-clad steel columns which ascend from the foundations up through the core structure, and five levels of triangular suspension trusses which are locked into these masts.
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Q1 (building), Wikipedia
Seen In: Q1 Tower, Article text
Quote, Seen In: Q1 Tower, Article text
The tension in the movement and free form are expressed by the gradual twisting of the aluminium-clad ribbons as they move around the building.
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Louvre Abu Dhabi (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationSeen In: Louvre Abu Dhabi, Article text
Quote, Seen In: Louvre Abu Dhabi, Article text
Their structural engineers realised the "floating dome" from 7,850 aluminium stars of varying sizes, which tessellate over eight layers to create a perforated roof structure that allows sunlight through to the spaces below.
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Villa Girasole (Wikipedia)
Seen In: Villa Girasole, Article text
Quote, Seen In: Villa Girasole, Article text
They ended up using aluminium sheeting to replace the concrete on the outside walls because the concrete had left cracks.
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