hida - Color Material Finish specialists (히다랩)

Beyond silver,
a new world led
by silver

08-10-2023 save btn Save

Silver building that change the atmosphere of the city
Furnitures in creative harmony with silver
Written as silver, read as innovation

CMF(Color, Material, Finish) Newsletter. 2023.08-1

ⓒSony, Nikon, Samsung, Victrola

Silver is a representative metal widely used for currency, jewelry, handicrafts, and for industrial purposes. As the metal with similar colors, there are stainless steel, aluminum, tin, lead, etc. However, due to the luxurious image of silver which is a jewelry, silver coatings on the surface of plastic and steel was widely used in the 80’s to 90’s.

ⓒgettyimagesbank

Most of the development of metal surface treatment technology can be seen as a process to create a beautiful silver color. 'Beyond silver' was selected as hïda's August CMF (Color, Material, Finish) newsletter's keywords. Part 1 introduces examples in the field of construction, living, and mobility.

Architecture

Silver buildings that change the atmosphere of the city

ⓒWalt Disney Concert Hall

The silver color gives life and vitality, stimulates curiosity and gives original inspiration to the viewer. The 'Walt Disney Concert Hall' is a building built by world-class architect Frank Gehry in 2003. It has the features of symbolizing the musical melody and the dynamism of the city in a curved shape. With the silver color CMF effect made with stainless steel material, you can feel life and vitality. In addition, it is evaluated that this building played a role in transforming the atmosphere of a depressed city stained with violence.

hïda's CMF Selection

ⓒDDP

The 'DDP (Dongdaemun Design Plaza)', designed by Zaha Hadid and built by Samsung Corporation in 2016, features a design that considers not only the vitality of the city but also future-oriented originality. It is a worldly known building, but you may not know why aluminum panels were used as the exterior material of the building and what details are included. For DDP, the world's largest 3D atypical building, error-free construction was possible by introducing BIM (Building Information Modeling), a three-dimensional design method, to all processes. In particular, not a single one of the 45,133 plates of aluminum panels used in the exterior has the same color or shape. It was necessary to develop secondary curvature forming and cutting equipment to build this. This is the exactly why aluminum was used rather than stainless steel, which is difficult to machine.

ⓒGray City Studio, Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center

The 4-story 'Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center', located in Oklahoma City, USA, was designed to provide visitors with new and unfamiliar stimulation as much as art works. For the external walls, 16,800 pieces of extruded recycled aluminum material (total length of about 37 miles (60 km)) were used. Aluminum fins folded at a certain angle reflect the surrounding landscape, creating a visually mesmerizing atmosphere. In addition, it can withstand extreme temperature changes by performing the functions of ventilation and water flow. The CMF technology used here creates great value not only visually but also functionally.

ⓒCampus Simons

'Campus Simons', which was built in Quebec, Canada, in 2020, is the logistics center of Maison Simons, a large chain store. As a design inspired by the fashion industry, the aluminum panels are set offset to remind of woven fabric, and the surface treatment is also treated differently, glossy and matte, to complete a unique look. It is an excellent example that completed the image of as if tradition and the future seem to coexist with silver CMF.

Living

Furniture in creative harmony with silver

ⓒRiluc

In the field of furniture, it is common to use stainless steel for high-priced products and to plate steel for low-priced products. However, the Portuguese furniture brand 'Riluc' introduces differentiated silver furniture through the brand’s unique metal processing technology and surface treatment technology. You can get insight on how to combine silver-colored metal with wood or leather. In addition, various brands are focusing on making metal furniture or interior accessories as a means of originality and new value creation. Check out the various forming and processing examples of stainless steel.

hïda's CMF Selection

ⓒRon Arad_Phillips

ⓒjohnstonmarklee

ⓒVaillo_Irigaray Architects

ⓒgettyimagesbank

In the interior of the commercial space, silver-colored metal is combined with heterogeneous materials such as stone, wood, and acrylic, or used together with lighting to provide a unique experience. Recently, stainless steel has been used a lot. Through advanced metal processing technology, the silver look is completed in a variety of ways, such as 3-dimensional molding and weaving, or unique polishing of the surface.

Mobility

Written as silver, read as innovation

ⓒBMW

The value and meaning of silver in the field of mobility is unique. Most of the mobility products represented by automobiles use metal for the exterior. In particular, as metal surface coating technology has developed, silver has become one of the representative colors. Since the early 1900s, silver has been used to create a fast and powerful image, and the special meaning of silver can be inferred from names such as Rolls-Royce's 'Silver Ghost' and Mercedes-Benz's 'Silver Arrow'.

BMW's concept car 'ix-Flow' announced in 2022 was applied with E-ink technology, which changes color when current flows, and won the Innovation Award. The basic colors used in this concept car’s CMF solution is ‘light grey’ and ‘black’.

As can be seen in ix-Flow, the silver color used for the exterior of recent mobility products is close to gray, with a small size of ‘pigment’ and ‘reflection’, and is relatively calm.

hïda's CMF Selection

ⓒRollsRoyce

Rolls-Royce released 35 cars of the limited-edition model, the 'Silver Ghost'. This model was created by reinterpreting the color resembling moonlight and outstanding quietness, with the motif of the Silver Ghost first released in 1907. Not only are the characteristics of silver that change little by little depending on the viewing angle and lighting well revealed, but the small pigment size and moderate reflectivity are suitable for Rolls-Royce's reputation.

Perhaps because silver is becoming popular again, brands are coming up with a variety of silver products. The common feature seems to be that the pigment is small and the reflectivity is low.

ⓒhïda

Among the solutions possessed by 'hïda', a special silver is introduced. It is a product in which fine patterns in micrometer (㎛) units are realized on PET sheets with UV-curing liquid materials. When silver is implemented with this solution named ‘UV optical pattern’, a three-dimensional effect appears as if the highlight of the pattern moves depending on the viewing angle. You can design the shape or movement of the pattern you want, and you can control the fine silver color with the vacuum deposition solution.

hïda's CMF Selection