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The combination of Teijin’s Twaron and Tenax super fibers is an architectural first.
The newly renovated Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam is an undisputed eye catcher on the Museumplein, and is also the largest composite building in the world. The enormous and seamless white façade that now hovers above the square is an architectural first made possible with high-quality Twaron (aramid fiber) and Tenax (carbon fiber) from Teijin Ltd. This is the first time that these super fibers were architecturally applied together.
Teijin was proud to contribute to the museum’s reopening. “The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam is a global pioneer in the field of art and culture,” says President and CEO of Teijin Ltd. Shigeo Ohyagi. “Our philosophy is to grow and evolve in harmony with society. In addition to investing in our own facilities, we also prove our commitment in other ways by supporting regional projects and investing in art and culture.” Aramid fibers, carbon fibers and composites are growth drivers for the Teijin group’s medium- to long-term management vision.
The new addition to the Stedelijk Museum appears to be a seamless whole and stands in stark contrast to the original 19th century building. The composite façade was designed by Benthem Crouwel Architects. Due to their negative thermal expansion coefficient, a combination of Twaron and Tenax was used to create the smooth and seamless surface the architects had envisioned. The use of these fibers for the Stedelijk Museum ushers in a new phase in their architectural application. Twaron has long been used in car tires, bulletproof vests, sailboats and airplanes, but this is the first time it has been used in architecture with Tenax. Since 2000, Twaron aramid fiber has been produced under the auspices of the listed Japanese company Teijin by the Netherlands-based Teijin Aramid.
Tenax carbon fibers used in the façade are produced at Toho Tenax Europe GmbH in Germany. Carbon fibers are used in a wide range of fields, including aircraft, aerospace devices, sports equipment such as golf clubs, and in wind generator blades, pressure vessels, robots and automobiles.