Today’s photos from the Jianlange Hotel under construction.

What about these Bronze Plants?

We designed these bronze leaves in bronze mesh with a round section frame. The main contractor’s subcon made a sample . We rejected this. Too rough, too difficult for him. So we changed them to bronze sheet metal with punched holes. He made another sample modifying our CAD drawing along the way. Why? No one knows. We rejected this again. So we simplified the shape further and arranged the holes to be punched in a more regular manner. The client’s procurement team took these drawings and the final sample to another contractor to quote, to compare prices. The quotation came back cheaper. So they decided to use this new nominated subcon instead and deduct this part of work from the main contractor. This new subcon somehow was not willing to use bronze. She suggested anodised bronze. She made a sample which was brighter and sharper, so we approved. They took a few days to fabricate these and installed them on site yesterday. Today we saw them for the first time all lined up together, gleaming in the light. A moment we architects live for.