Steel Structures: High-Quality Buildings
2026-02-10 
164"Steel structures represent high-quality architecture, and claiming that steel structures must be low-cost is a false proposition." This was the straightforward remark made by the president of an architecture university at the National Academic Conference on Sustainable Development of Industrial Buildings. He posed a rhetorical question: Is it reasonable to expect bread and cakes to be
priced the same as steamed buns and cornbread?
He argued that earthquakes themselves are not the killers—collapsed and damaged buildings are. He emphasized that steel structure buildings boast advantages such as high strength, light weight, and excellent ductility, making them the structural form with the best seismic performance. Practice has proven that steel structure buildings suffer far less damage in earthquakes than other structural types, with distinct superiorities.
He stated that steel structures are the most suitable system for industrialized prefabrication for three key reasons:
- Steel has excellent mechanical workability, ideal for factory-based production and fabrication;
- Compared with concrete, steel structures are lighter, facilitating transportation and assembly;
- Steel structures are compatible with high-strength bolt connections, enabling easy assembly and disassembly.
He expressed the hope that steel structure residences would be evaluated based on the full life cycle and green building principles, and that special support would be provided for steel structure residences in the reconstruction of earthquake-stricken areas.
