The Minimum has been our key element to explore new, unexpected ways of flexibility and interoperativity in spatial production, while refraining from over-packaged architecture.
Richard Serra has said: “The biggest break in the history of sculpture in the twentieth century occurred when the pedestal was removed.”
When it comes to a pavilion, what happens to its architecture when the foundation is removed?
The pavilion is floating and its only point of contact is the structural core of the object.
The pavilion has been designed taking advantage of the excellent properties of plywood. The strength and flexibility of this engineered board have been pushed to its limits to give this material a new way of working.
The 94 ribs’ radial arrangement starts from the base, a metal anchorage, and spans to the outer façade, defining with one element the skin, the roof, the walls, and the structure. By aligning the plywood veneers in the correct direction, an optimal use of the material’s orthotropic characteristics is achieved.
Defining the volume through cantilever geometry has made it possible to concentrate the joints in one point, minimising material and production time.
Although strongly connected to its designated sites, the pavilion stands as an independent object and can easily be assembled and disassembled almost anywhere.
