What helps creative architects like Frank Gehry turn heavy metal into such light, free-flowing forms? An adhesive from 3M that makes innovative architecture possible.
“98% [of buildings] are boxes.[...] We accept it as inevitable. [When] somebody does something different, real architecture, the push-back is amazing. People resist it. At first it’s new and scary.”
- Frank Gehry
Source: Frank Gehry’s interview with David Sheff, Playboy, Dec. 16, 2010.
Frank Gehry’s design for the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles beautifully deconstructs basic forms: walls curve, towers rise above foundations that seem too small, and shining steel scales reflect and transform the surrounding space. Such an out-of-the-box vision required special materials and techniques to construct.
The outside walls are covered in 6,100 stainless steel panels, no two the same shape or size. Permasteelisa, the construction team, needed a way to invisibly fasten each 145 lb. piece of steel. No rivets. No welds.
The answer was 3M™ VHB™ Tape—an acrylic foam adhesive so strong, it can hold locomotives together. And you’ll never know it’s there.
View the original 1988 demo
The tape bonds the curtain wall panels to aluminum metal clips positioned on either side of the horizontal and vertical seams between the panels. It makes a smoother finish. Plus, it’s stronger and longer-lasting than rivets and spot welds, which also weaken the material they fasten.
Beyond innovative architecture, 3M VHB Tape's strength and flexibility help drive progress in many areas, including transportation, electronics, waterproofing, and metal working.
Kansas City, MO 2010
Architect: Crawford Architects
Glazing System: Zahner Inverted Seamu2122 Glass System
Den Bosch, Netherlands, 2006
Fabricator: Sorba
Aluminum Panel Bonding
3Mu2122 VHBu2122 Architectural Panel Tape
Guatemala, Guatemala 2006
Curtainwall Manufacturer/Glazer: Aluminos Aldana
High-strength bonding tape is a proven alternative to screws, rivets, welds, and other forms of mechanical fasteners.
Strength to hold a structural panel for the life of a building. Or so gentle they yield to a child.
Strong yet easily removable, 3M fasteners can replace screws, bolts, and rivets in your designs.
