A massive work titled "Picnic on Grass" consists of a "coffee cup," an "apple" and a "pear." The cup is a steel mill crucible weighing more than 10 tons. "Teapot" is made of iron cubes, each weighing around three tons.

"Traditionally steel sculptures are not 'intimate' enough to viewers since they are cold and hard," says Yu Qingyu, owner YYRL Design. "What we try to do is to make these steel works less cold and hard and give them a daily-life feel, because food and catering are close to everyday life."

In daily work, says Yu, "we always put art works in restaurants or cafes. "So adding artistic atmosphere to any environment and 'crossing over' is a normal part of our job."

The site of the sculpture festival is now the Shanghai International Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Park. The site had been occupied by the former Shanghai Ferroalloy Plant, which was officially shut down in 2006.

Baoshan is China's biggest steel maker, but operations were no longer suitable for that part of Shanghai, given the trend of environmentally friendly industry. Around 16 factories and 40 production lines were shut down.

District authorities plan to renovate the complex and turn the area into a new industrial base and development center for environmentally friendly technology and products.

The reconstruction was launched last December. Phase one of the project is almost completed. The core of the site has been turned into a permanent steel sculpture park.

The sculpture festival features not only professional sculptors and designers but also designers from other fields who "cross over" into steel sculpture.

Steel Sculpture Festival

Date: through November 10, 8am-4:30pm

Address: 101 Changjiang Rd W.

Tel: 5682-3456

(Shanghai Daily November 7, 2008)