Click on the links to see 5 different pictures here.

The AL center expresses the logical use of materials, judging by the characteristics of the materials, clearly showing the advantages of aluminum in contrast to other building materials.

Concrete is heavy, while steel and aluminum are considered 'light' materials. The light materials are lifted from the ground, while a concrete slab lies on the ground, serving as parking lot underneath the structure.

Steel and aluminum differ a great deal from eachother. Both steel and aluminum corrode, but aluminum loses only a little of its shinyness and stops corroding once its surface layer has corroded. Moreover, the weight of aluminum is about one-third of the weight of steel. Thus, the cantilevered 30 meters aluminum will stay in balance with 10 meters of steel.

Aluminum can also more easily be shaped, as is expressed by its streamlined body, contrasting the rigid steel box at the end. The building displays all sorts of ways to construct with aluminum, such as extruded parts and explosion-shaped panels, wtih emphasis on prefabrication of leightweight components. Since aluminum can be recycled, chances are the building might even be made from that soda-can you drank from yesterday.

Design by Harry van Heeswijk, Eric Vreedenburg, Robert Winkel and Kees Gajentaan, june 1997