Director's Notes

Different dreams yield different fruits. The Steel Structure Museum is the long-cherished wish of Mr. Wang Hong, Chairman of China Construction Science and Industry Corporation Ltd. (formerly CSCEC Steel). After he leads the Company to the top of the steel structure industry, this museum is at the right time.

It is my pleasure to help Mr. Wang Hong realize the dream. In July 2013, I was appointed Director to be responsible for the construction preparation for the Steel Structure Museum. However, I find that the "shortest" project (because it is located underground ) in the history of the Company is no less difficult than Shanghai World Financial Center and Wuhan Railway Station in which I have participated, for there are no standards and we do not know the whereabouts of its objects. In the corporate culture of China Construction Science and Industry Corporation Ltd. we must not make do with what we have.

Except studying and thinking more thoroughly and meticulously, we have no other approaches.

At first, we studied much relevant knowledge and have inspected many exhibition design units and museums in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Mr. Wang Hong used to buy relevant books and solemnly hand over them to me as long as he have saw the books about the museum no matter in Hong Kong and Taiwan Province or abroad. The first two inspections, the University History Museum of Beijing Jiaotong University and Hong Kong Planning and Exhibition Gallery, both were orgnized by Mr. Xu Ronglie, Chief Engineer of the former Ministry of Construction, and led by Mr. Wang Hong himself. It is thus clear that how obsessed Mr. Wang Hong is with museum and how mang presure I got from this obsession.

Besedes acquiring relevent knowledge, inspections helped us build self-confidence. Because not every museum was attentively run, I believe that we are completely capable to make a decent one.

At the same time, we have to determine the construction scheme of the museum. This museum is the supporting project of compang's headquarters building. The two are simultaneously constructed and are designed by China Northeast Architectural Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd. We first determined the scheme for sunken plaza and dome acts as entrance. After that, choice for the functions and structures of four basement floors were also settled. I can still record that Mr. Li Xue, construction consultant of Headquarters Building and senior leader of the Company, asked me about the suitable column spacing of the basement one day.

Next, architectural construction, display planning and object collection are carried forward synchronously. Generally speaking, the objects should be provided at first, then come to custom-made  rooms and showcases (or stands). However, time waits for no man, we can only break the routine.

Mr. Yu Lihai, General Manager of Real Estate Company of China Construction Science and Industry Corporation Ltd. led Hu Xiaohong, Kong Xiangming, Tang Yinghong, Wang Shaoyan, Yan Ming, Zhang Fan (in alphabetical order, the same below) and the like to construct this Museum. The civil engineering, electromechanical, dome, waterscape, and lighting construction units of thisMuseum are: China Construction Third Bureau Company III, China Construction Fourth Division Installation, China Construction Shenzhen Decoration, Shenzhen Duotiangong Garden, and Shenzhen Golden Lighting.

The display planning is the most intense. There are no standards to follow regarding what to display and how to display. As there are no standards, success or failure may occur. The boundary and extension of this Museum should be specified at first. At that time, there are various suggestions inside and outside the Company. Finally, we decided to place the smelting and shipbuilding outside the door, and only emphasized the steel structure (due to this principle, I once decide to cancel the spectra vision which reflects the ironmaking in the ancient times) and the buildings and bridges. Besides, we decided to construct an exhibition gallery so that they can perform their own functions.

From compiling the display outline (similar to the screenplay), the display planning entered substantial stage. After great hardships, our team has companished the outline, which contains more than 100,000 characters (including seeking for opinions many times and multiple rounds of modification). Reliant on Shanghai Vango, the visual scheme design has been fulfilled (it also passes repeated improvements and it is controlled by Mr. Wang Hong in person). Later, the construction drawing design was completed. The display construction is undertaken by Shenzhen E.B.T. and Golden Phoenix. During the construction, we have completed tremendous in-depth designs, and made lots of fine adjustments for the original design. A thick memoir may be written from the outline to the final presentation.

No collection, no museum. But where to find them?  I can only request Liu Qingquan, Wen Jun, Yao Xiaodong, Zhang Shipu and Zhu Yu, "Political Commissars" of five regions of the Company, to provide assistance. They lead their colleagues (Ge Tiaoxiang, Liu Shi, Sun Dong, Tang Gaoyong, Tao Lei, Xu Ziming, Yang Lihong, Zhang Kaiming, Zhou Hailin, etc.) of Integrated Office to collect tremendous treasures by following up a clue. 90% existing objects in this Museum are collected by them.

Mr. Li Renge, returnee doctor of the Company, is especially mighty for he collects the last section of remnant piece of the World Trade Center in New York. Togrther with it was my confidence.

This Museum is located on the underground second floor. The display construction is constructed without disturbance all the time and knows nothing about the reaction of visitors either. One day in March 2017, when the display construction was winding up, Mr. Jiang Li, Marketing Director of the Company, entered this Museum. It is said that he was astonished immediately and rang me for expressing that he was pleasantly surprised. Mr. Jiang may be the first visitor and bosom friend of this Museum.

Construction was directly led by Mr. Ma Yijun (when he was General Manager of China Construction Science and Industry Corporation Ltd. and Construction Commander of Headquarters Building and current General Manager of China Construction Fourth Division), and instructed by Mr. Dai Lixian (when he was Chief Engineer of China Construction Science and Industry Corporation Ltd. and Museum Consultant, and current General Manager of China Construction Science and Industry Corporation Ltd). The visit line of two halls is determined by Mr. Ma Yijun; the protection scheme for world trade component of New York is formulated by Mr. Dai Lixian. "There are many WeChat work groups, but the most active one is museum group" —this is Mr. Ma Yijun's recognition and encouragement for the museum team. More than 50% members in the display planning team come from the departments in the charge of Mr. Dai Lixian.

Li Junhua, Zuo Xuping, Ye Guoxin, Liao Xinhua, Xu Chongliang, Ouyang Chao, Shentu Huihong, Xu Kun, Jiang Li, Yang Zhengjun, Wang Chaoyang, Gu Lei and other company leaders and senior executives, and departments and units of the Company have given precious support for the construction in different ways. In 2018, Ms. Zhang Wei held the Deputy Secretary of Party Committee of the Company and cared much about this Museum.

Willing to provide pieces of cultural land in Houhai where land is invaluable, Shenzhen government gave this Museum an opportunity to be born in a "rich and powerful family".

China State Construction and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council all expressed their consent this Museum all the way.

The museum construction has been supported by China Construction Metal Structure Association and its Steel Structure Branch, and has gained much assistance from all walks of life and many people.

I appreciated the style of intellectuals born during the period of the Republic of China when paying a visit to Chen Shaofan, Cai Yiyan and other steel structure experts. I felt the warmth from cultural museum family when consulting Zhang Qikun, Cai Huiyao and other museum experts.

From accepting the task, I used to rely on Mr. Zhou Aiwen, Head of Corporate Culture Department of the Company all the time. When bidding for construction of the museum, Mr. Zhang Lifeng, the Executive Director Cao Zhen and Lin Xiaotian joined and became the first batch of full-time stuff of thisMuseum, who providing me strong support. After operation, Mr. Zhang Lifeng leads He Xiaoguang, Lin Xiaotian, Liu Min, Sun Qian and other people to fulfill the tasks excellently. The customer service personnel of China Overseas Property Management Co. Ltd. represented by Zhao Xiaomeng, have provided professional services.

The museum is constructed benefited from the vast employees of China Construction Science and Industry Corporation Ltd. all the time. Packaging scheme of the pillar in the preface hall, for example, was designers Qi Lin and Song Ke provided. In the compilation of display outline in the earlier stage and the review of image-text contents in the later stage, I often have to seek confirmation from a colleague around or far away. According to the Steel Structure Museum and Me written by Mr. Li Longfei, one of my team members, he also "bothered" dozens of colleagues. Due to the limited space, it is hard to present these colleagues one by one.

Dedication is a hidden issue in the Steel Structure Museum. This Museum is open for free. During the construction, the spirit of dedication is contained. The members of displayplanning team do not delay their own work all the time (most meetings of display team are held in the evening or on two-day weekend), and they receive no remuneration (what I can promise them was："This Museum will certainly bring honor to you"). They are:

Chen Yang, Chen Zhenming, Jiang Guanye, Kang Yongping, Kuai Guoxiong, Leng Hanyu, Li Chao, Li Longfei, Li Ranguang, Li Renge, Sui Xiaodong, Wang Guicheng, Zhang Dapeng, Zhao Siyuan, Zhou Aiwen, Zhu Shaohui, etc.

There are still many rooms for improvement in the collection, book reservation, display, research, social education and other aspects. There are many things to be done all the time.

In the initial discussion of display contents, we have considered to make Steel Structure Figures. Since the standard is ambiguous, it was abandoned. What frequently occur in my mind,However, during the preparation,were Bessemer, Roebling and his son, and Emily, Eiffel, Lv Yanzhi, Mao Yisheng, ChenShaofan, Bao Guangjian, Lu Jianxin and other steel structure masters and craftsmen.it was them who animated the steel structure and made  the Steel Structure Museum warm.

Zhou Fabang, Deputy General Manager of China Construction Science and Industry Corporation Ltd. and Director of Steel Structure Museum