ConstruirAcier - ArcelorMittal partner for the promotion of steel in France
ConstruirAcier informs and advises architects, engineering offices, and investors on the economic and environmental challenges faced by steel in architecture. To achieve this, the association connects facilitators and project stakeholders, disseminating knowledge with visits to construction sites and existing facilities, publications, conferences, competitions, and many other events promoting the use of steel in architecture.
Site visits: closer to steel architecture
From construction sites to structures to factories, ConstruirAcier regularly organises visits for architects, investors, and engineering offices, inviting them to discover and explore the advantages of steel in construction on site. Highly anticipated by designers, these visits combine an introduction of the participants in the design process with a tour of the site. These site visits are a great opportunity to establish valuable contacts and to exchange views with the other participants.
ConstruirAcier: an association of ideas for architecture
Bringing together all of the key players in the steel construction industry – steel producers and distributors, investors, contractors, metalworkers, etc. – the association relies on a solid network of experts and participates in various projects providing essential, technical information about the efficient, economical, and innovative use of steel. ArcelorMittal has partnered with ConstruirAcier from the outset to promote the use of steel in France.
The association represents the steel construction industry in France, which today encompasses more than 175 000 jobs and offers considerable training potential with a wide range of qualifications that can be acquired in approximately 20 000 training centres across the country.
Trophées Eiffel (Eiffel Awards) for steel architecture: a national distinction
In addition to the various activities of ConstruirAcier, the Trophées Eiffel award ceremony is worth a special mention as it is fast becoming an important meeting place for representatives of the steel construction industry. Since 2015, these awards have been gaining in popularity and significance among architects. Taking place annually, these awards increase the visibility of various principal architectural projects made entirely or partly of steel. The Trophées Eiffel are an important national distinction awarded by an independent jury for projects built in France designed by local or international architects. A key part of the promotion of steel architecture and its designers, architects, and engineers, these awards shine a spotlight on the professional knowledge and ‘know-how’ of companies and the beneficial qualities of steel.
The highlight of this awards ceremony, an evening gala called Steel⸱in, gathers around 450 architects, investors, developers, administration representatives, and other sector representatives every year at the crowning achievement of the competition. In addition to awarding the winners, the Steel.In evening has become an important event for professional discussion, networking, and opportunity.
Education is at the heart of ConstruirAcier's mission
The purpose of ConstruirAcier is to promote the use of steel in architecture and to provide planners, architects, design offices, engineers, and architectural and engineering schools with the assistance and support necessary for the exploration of steel. On the teaching side, its mission is to stimulate the curiosity and creativity of student architects and engineers with the possibilities offered by steel so that they can integrate it into the professional environment.
With this in mind, four educational focusses have been set out:
- Learn: ConstruirAcier offers free conferences for students, allowing them to better understand the technical, aesthetic, safety, and regulatory performance of the use of steel in architectural projects and metal construction.
- See: ConstruirAcier also offers teachers logistical and financial support to organise visits to construction sites, existing facilities, and production plants.
- Experiment: An authentic laboratory of ideas and creation, the Concours Acier (Steel Competition) has been established over the years as a major and rewarding event for the students enrolled in French schools of architecture and engineering.
- Go further: ‘Subjects’ magazine, documentation, books, and technical guides with quality content are all available to students. Whether architectural journals, technical and educational publications, expert articles, or newsletters, ConstruirAcier's publications open up a wide spectrum of exploration to readers who want to know steel or to improve their knowledge of the advantages of using this material in construction.
ConstruirAcier’s themed conferences: unmissable events
‘Is choosing bio-based material sufficient enough to build sustainably and responsibly?’
‘Staying creative under pressure’
‘Everything changes, everything evolves...except architecture?’
‘The near future’
Inaugurated in 2019, ConstruirAcier's series of themed conferences quickly established themselves as authentic meeting points for architects at the Maison de l’architecture en Ile de France (The Ile de France House of Architecture) in Paris.
As one participant, an expert in steel construction and architecture, has said, the key to the success of the conferences that punctuated 2019 is very simple: By raising topics of interest in the world of architecture and specific issues concerning architects and their practices, this conference series, in partnership with the Maison de l’architecture, addresses core issues.
Nearly 70 participants, mostly architects, attended each of the conferences in this series, which will continue in 2020.
From sustainable cities to the resistance and durability of designed buildings, from the future of cities to questions about architectural history, these conferences provide an overview of the challenges being faced by architecture today and tomorrow, highlighting the advantages of steel in these areas.
