How to distinguish between American and European doors and windows

Asia-Pacific Doors and Windows Network will give you the answer, take a look at this, it will be helpful to you

In the atmosphere of "Europe is the teacher" in China's door and window industry, this article discusses American doors and windows The relationship with European doors and windows shows that American doors and windows are the inheritance, improvement and development of European doors and windows. If Chinese door and window companies want to further improve their level and open up the international market, they must pay attention to the style and standards of American doors and windows.

In the past two decades of development of China's doors and windows industry, many companies have introduced European equipment, processes, and technologies, and have been greatly influenced by Europe. Even the formulation of Chinese standards also reflects this. . European-style doors and windows have undoubtedly played an important role in improving the level of China's doors and windows industry. However, falling into "European feelings" will hinder the vision of China's doors and windows industry and constrain the development of China's doors and windows industry. Some friends think that European-style and American-style doors and windows are two completely different systems, which cuts off the intrinsic relationship between the two. This view is inaccurate.

Because, from a social, cultural and historical perspective, American doors and windows are the inheritance, improvement and development of European doors and windows. In the international door and window market, China has a very small chance of exporting doors and windows to Europe, while the U.S. door and window market is worth exploring for Chinese companies.

First, American doors and windows inherit the style of European doors and windows

Architecture is engineering, technology, and also contains national art and reflects national culture. Therefore, several major immigration waves in the world have , played a major role in the spread of architectural styles from various countries overseas.

The United States is a country of immigrants. Early immigrants mainly came from Europe, and various buildings naturally inherited European styles. Before the U.S. manufacturing industry was established, all building materials used in the United States were imported from Europe. Subsequently, the American construction industry gradually took shape, and the entrepreneurs were all European immigrants. In the various architecture schools established in the future, teachers and teaching materials also came from Europe. The American Society of Architectural Designers was also founded by Europeans. Therefore, it is normal for the United States to "learn from Europe" in its past building regulations. American doors and windows naturally inherited the style of European doors and windows. Therefore, 100 years ago, the United States used European-style doors and windows, and there was no reference to "American style" at all. It was only in the first 50 years that the United States gradually jumped out from European style and formed its own style.

Second, American doors and windows have made a lot of improvements to European doors and windows

Although American doors and windows were developed from the introduction of European door and window technology, they did not completely copy European designs; It has been transformed and innovated based on the characteristics of the local area.

The United States has immigrants from all over the world, and its multiculturalism is very prominent. During the development process of more than 200 years, the American construction industry has fully absorbed the styles of various countries around the world, among which European culture has a particularly great influence on the American construction industry. However, the United States is vast, much larger than Europe. The United States also spans wider latitudes than Europe, has rich and varied topography, and more complex climate conditions. In order to better adapt to the climate and environment of the United States and improve living conditions, the United States has continuously made many improvements to European-style buildings, including doors and windows made of various materials, such as PVC, solid wood, aluminum alloy, and aluminum-wood composite doors and windows. For example: in the south with long sunshine hours and high temperatures, we should focus on extending the anti-aging time; in coastal and high-rise buildings, we should focus on improving the wind pressure resistance; in the cold northern areas, we should improve the low-temperature impact resistance of profiles.

For another example, the United States has a higher proportion of villas and high-end apartment buildings. The room designs are generally larger than those in Europe, and the windows are also larger. People's concepts emphasize innovation and personalization. Therefore, while focusing on improving sealing, thermal insulation, heat insulation, sound insulation, and noise reduction performance, the United States pursues exquisite and noble window shapes. The design of window shapes maintains rich facade lines and highly decorative transitions between arcs and straight lines. The style reflects novelty, variety and differentiation. Most of the window types are push-pull and lift-up and down. Some of them inherit European-style casement windows, but the opening method has been improved. Europe has a northern latitude and cold winters. Early European buildings mostly used wooden windows with small window openings, and single-sash windows were generally installed. There are many brick and stone buildings and classical-style buildings in Europe. The doors and windows are relatively simple and uniform in shape, and the window types are small. Casement windows are customary, and casement windows have become a classic European design. Europeans pay more attention to tradition and norms, and their design styles have not changed much over time.

The differences in design concepts between European and American styles are reflected in the differences in door and window styles, profile structures, formulas, assembly techniques, installation methods, and even standard systems.

The European profile has a flat shape, linear composition, and is simple and unified.

American-style special-shaped profiles have delicate and lively exterior shapes, and most of the visible surfaces inside and outside the frame are inclined or curved; multiple internal ribs are used to form a multi-chamber structure, in order to increase the moment of inertia of its cross-section and reduce heat conduction. , while having exquisite decorative personality. American special-shaped profiles are constantly being introduced. Sliding windows are divided into double push and single push. Lift windows are not only divided into single push and double push, but also with or without flipping. With different functions, their appearance and shape are also different.

Because the geographical location and climate environment of the United States are quite representative in the northern hemisphere, its improvement in European-style building window shapes and profile sections is more suitable for most countries and regions in Asia than European styles. . The latitude of the United States is similar to that of China. It has a large geographical span, large temperature differences, large differences in wind pressure, and is more similar to China in its multi-ethnic and multi-cultural characteristics.

Third, American doors and windows have more development than European doors and windows

In the history of the United States for more than two hundred years, especially the economic development in the past one hundred years, it is the height of modern capitalism. development period. Many new technologies, new materials, and new processes around the world were first widely used in the United States.

As a new continent, the United States has built more new buildings in the past century, whether they are residential buildings, commercial buildings, factories, or public buildings, than all of Europe in the past five centuries. Many internationally renowned architectural landmarks in modern times also appeared in the United States. Therefore, the United States has more practice in applying new technologies, new materials, and new processes to new buildings than Europe.

Compared with Europe's emphasis on maintaining historical features, the United States has made greater achievements in innovation. The design of buildings, doors and windows in the United States not only pays great attention to energy conservation and environmental protection, but also strives to save materials by using new technologies, new materials, and new processes. European architecture has developed to a certain extent on the basis of maintaining tradition, but there are relatively few new buildings, and practice and improvement are limited.

It can be seen that American doors and windows are the inheritance, improvement and development of European doors and windows. If the Chinese door and window industry sets industry standards with too strong "European feelings", there will inevitably be many regrets. Lots of limitations.

Fourth, the European doors and windows market has long been saturated, and the American market is worthy of development by Chinese companies.

It is well known that the European doors and windows market is small. This is also an important reason why the European doors and windows industry was eager to enter China more than 20 years ago. They also actively influence China's doors and windows industry and formulate Chinese industry standards with reference to European standards in order to gain a long-term foothold in the Chinese market. However, every Chinese company that has introduced European complete sets of equipment, molds, formulas, processes, door and window assembly technology and other production technologies has greatly improved its production capacity and has reached the corresponding European standards. However, there are still some who export door and window products to Europe. ? Not one! Because the European construction market has long been saturated, even local European companies are not satisfied and can only get some scattered orders. How can they import from China again?

The United States is the largest market in the world. Even when the construction industry is at its worst, the production and import of building materials, including doors and windows, is still the first in the world, and it is many times that of the entire Europe. The building materials industry, including the doors and windows industry, is a traditional industry in the United States. The investment in capital and talent has reached its limit. In today's era of economic globalization, the competitiveness is getting smaller and smaller, but the demand in the United States is still considerable. Therefore, in the U.S. building materials market, imports are increasing year by year, and the proportion of Made of China products is also increasing. However, the standards of the U.S. door and window industry protect the interests of domestic companies to a certain extent, affecting or even restricting the export of Chinese products to the United States. Therefore, in order to improve themselves, Chinese door and window companies should learn from the advanced technologies of the American door and window industry, and cross the threshold of exporting to the United States by mastering and meeting American standards.

In order to better develop the U.S. market, the Chinese door and window industry has another strategy that can be considered. This is to set up a Sino-U.S. joint venture in the United States, combining the advantages of American companies in marketing channels and familiarity with standards, and giving full play to the Chinese side. Enterprises with sufficient production capacity and low cost can achieve the goal of "double win".

Today, China is the largest construction site in the world. The total number of construction projects in China in the past thirty years has exceeded the total number of construction projects in the United States, Japan, and Europe in the past 50 or even 100 years. With the rapid development of China's economy and the massive accumulation of wealth, new buildings in various places have been planned with a longer vision and a higher level. Design masters from all over the world have also had the opportunity to show their talents in China. Beijing Olympic Stadium, Shanghai The World Expo venues and related buildings embody this point.

Architecture is a century-old project. Any architectural theory and new architectural thinking must be verified by architectural practice. This is not a short time. China's formulation of new construction standards must not only be based on safety, material conservation, and energy conservation, but also provide broad space for "innovation" to allow "a hundred flowers to bloom" and "a hundred schools of thought to contend."

We can say that the architecture of the 19th century depends on Europe, the architecture of the 20th century depends on the United States, and the architecture of the 21st century depends on China. If today's Chinese architecture, including doors and windows, only takes Europe as a model, it is obviously not enough. We must not only learn from the progress of the United States in the last century, but also boldly innovate, use China's diverse architectural styles in the new century to showcase China's architectural culture and architectural art, and then promote it to the world. Therefore, China must be cautious in formulating new standards for doors, windows, profiles and buildings. It should not be too detailed, let alone be completely "European", which will unconsciously limit the reference to the architectural achievements of other countries around the world, hinder the development of the industry, and limit the freedom of its own design innovation.