Designed by Park Associati of Milan and sponsored by Electrolux, The Cube is a dining pavilion unveiled for the first time on April 1st placed atop the Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels, Belgium. The traveling pavilion will pop up on a series of landmark sites across Europe over the course of 2011 tailored for a unique dining experience and other events.

Two Electrolux Cube’s will travel across Europe offering a dining experience for 18 guests per setting in locations, namely on top of monuments, buildings and even water platforms in Belgium, Italy, Russia, Switzerland and Sweden but only for three months at each location.

The Cube has been conceived as a portable and lightweight module with ease of assembly, and designed to suit all climatic conditions. The pavilion’s lightness of form is emphasized by the faceted and white aluminum surface with varying perforations of laser-cut geometric motifs.

Pavilion in context

Elevation

Plan of the perforations on the faceted skin

Detail of the varying sizes of the geometric perforation

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Project team:

Client: Electrolux

Event planner: Absolute Blue, Brussels

Architect: Park Associati, Milano

Logo and texture design: Studio FM, Milano

Photo credits: Carol Kohen & Danica O. Kus

Greetings, readers! Thanks for your patience after my long absence due to personal obligations which I won’t go into details. To mark the occasion, I want to showcase this  gorgeous group of wooden huts by Canada’s Patkau Architects, designed to provide shelter for ice skaters in Winnipeg.

Each plywood structure was cut from a pattern and bent to form a conical shape with a triangular base that tapers to the top. Spatial intimacy is created by clustering the shelters together from the harsh winds. More after the break.

images courtesy of Patkau Architects

ReOrder is a site-specific fabric installation at the Brooklyn Museum‘s 10,000 square-foot Great Hall originally designed by Beaux-Arts architects, McKim, Mead and White. Designed by Situ Studio of Brooklyn, the installation takes cues from folding processes in textiles and unravels into series of fabric canopies with integrated seats that enhanced the profile of the existing columns, and in turn serve as a place for visitors to congregate and relax during museum events.

The installation is on view until January 2012.

Clips on the making of reOrder:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Concept studies and sketches

taking cues from the structure of 19th century hoop skirts

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Fabric gathering studies

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The Architecture

Floor plan

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Fabric assembly

Fabric is gathered at the skeletal rig installed around each column

the result of the gathered fabric

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Museum photography by Keith Sirchio

Other images courtesy of Situ Studio

Designed by Dror Benshetrit, QuaDror is an ingenious system yet structurally and aesthetically stunning as a simple building block or multiple modules. Constructed of four identical L-shaped parts, the form folds flat and opens up as each piece rests around the corner hinges. Its applications vary in scale ranging from room dividers to acoustic buffering for highways. The system’s potential also extend to trestle design for bridges and prefab elements for disaster relief housing. Expect to hear more of QuaDror in the upcoming months as it’s currently competing at the Buckminster Fuller Challenge.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

via Fast Company

Danish architecture student, Rasmus Svingel, has created a model with movable surfaces as part of an architectural study on space and program.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The concept is a structure which, depending on needs, climate, etc. can unfold and contract. The model consists of unhardened metal rods that are soldered together and then covered with coarse paper. The moving joints are made by the use of brass tubings. The movement is controlled by pulling carbon wires after which rubber bands resets the entire operation back to the starting position.

via dagens design

Reading this post brought back a stream of flashbacks of my days at RISD’s Department of Architecture when Design Principles was (and still is) the first notorious rite of passage for all would-be architects enrolled in the program.

The year-long course presents the fundamentals of design and material performance. Students churned out multitudes of study models using simple materials that vary from year to year (from clay to chipboard and recently, plain paper).

These images showcased the ongoing design explorations by students of professor Gabriel Feld, working under the theme of “Material Operations – from unit to mass”.

a massing representation in charcoal representing the folded unit. (image above)

Interested in learning more about Design Principles? I highly recommend reading this book The Making of Design Principles written by Kyna Leski who is a current professor at RISD Department of Architecture.

via our risd

images via risd2009 Flickr set

Check out the awesome fold-some results of the New York-based design and prototyping workshop, Material Intelligence, held during the week of August 16-20. The workshop was conceived through a collaboration between Studio Mode/modeLab and Tietz-Baccon.

Interested in attending an upcoming modeLab workshop? Get updates on their website.

Material Intelligence Workshop

Brief:
The relationship between the designed object and the forces surrounding that object are always present, perceivable, and tactile. These forces span, among others, material, fabrication, economic, cultural, as well as political domains. In this manner, the object can be thought of as simultaneously existing within a charged field of pressures while adding its own charge back into the field. Contemporary tools (digital fabrication) and technology (associative environments) provide a strategic means for navigating the multitude of forces at play, while the prototype serves as the activating link between material research and design innovation.

Methodology:
This workshop progressed through a series of focused strategies beginning with material testing, followed by the development of prototypes, and arriving at aggregations of a single topological type. Each prototype was created by simple operations, undertaken through a specific disposition, and evaluated for performative potentials. All assemblies were designed in an associative environment (Grasshopper) and iteratively tested utilizing digital fabrication equipment (CNC 3-Axis Mill and CNC High-Force Cutter). The workshop concluded with a reception that exhibited design prototypes and full scale assemblies built by participants over the course of five days.

About Studio Mode/modeLab:

Studio Mode/modeLab is a Brooklyn-based design studio and research collective founded by Ronnie Parsons and Gil Akos. As a studio committed to design as a form of applied research, Mode engages in practices that have a requisite and deep connection to material and the processes by which it is formed and informed.

“While we are interested in intense iterative design processes, we believe the evolution and contextualization of these procedures in a broader social and cultural domain is both our primary objective and the means for embedding interest and significance into design.”

All images courtesy of Studio Mode and Adam Elstein

Colombian architect Manuel Villa designed a polyhedral structure that serves as the ‘playroom’ for the owner’s child. Inspired by how children learn and perceive basic shapes in their early years, the architect came up with a geometric volume constructed of a pine structure with a domed skylight, windows and built-in desk and couch.

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Preliminary concepts: testing several polyhedrons and seeing how they unfold

Final concept showing the unfolded plan of the octahedron

Images courtesy of Manuel Villa Arquitecto

‘Poetic’ is the one word to describe this chapel. Designed by Spanish architecture office, S-M.A.O., the concrete structure is an exercise in spatial manipulation using the folding concept. The chapel, which only houses a cross and an image, relies on natural lighting to illuminate the space, emphasizing the symbolism of the project.

Photography: Hisao Suzuki

via archdaily

San Francisco’s California College of Arts School of Architecture, in conjunction with the Architectural Association Visiting Program, hosted a 10-day intensive architectural workshop on Biodynamic Structures – a study of the force and energy of dynamic processes on living organisms. The final workshop discussion and exhibition was held last Wednesday evening, with all the participating designers displaying their experiments and prototypes. Utilizing computer applications such as RHINO, Grasshopper, and Arduino, each project was an investigation in biomimetic principles in nature, and through analysis and simulations, was translated into the design of responsive architectural systems. It was amazing to see the level of studies the participating designers undertook in just 10 days.

Check out the snapshots and videos taken during my visit to the opening night. I’ll try my very best to recall any details of the project as far as my memory can take me.

One group of designers investigated the structural framework of anthropod shells with a series of fabric studies below.

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Another group studied pleats based on studying the skin mechanism of the puffer fish, and translated into a responsive tarp system.

Click here to view the embedded video.

rear view

front view

part of the presentation board showing the pleat studies.

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Prototype of an acoustical system of ‘petals’ which open and close in response to noise.

Click here to view the embedded video.

preliminary prototype

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Design of a photo-responsive canopy system

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Origamic modules for a canopy design

Light-responsive canopy system

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Another light-responsive (?) canopy design

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prototype of a ceiling with acoustic-responsive ‘balloons’

Armed with a fascination for the pentagon, Dutch sculptor and artist, Gerard Caris amassed an extensive portfolio charting the evolution of his geometrical studies in the form of paintings, relief sculptures, 3D sculptures and even architecture. Believing that he has introduced a new chapter in the history of art, he named his artistic pursuit as Pentagonism.

Here are a few exclusive picks of his works:

Large polyhedral net structure rotated to reveal its changing shadows cast on the wall. Made of steelwire, cardboard, linen, paint.

another polyhedral net sculpture

view looking up from below

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Rhombohedra relief sculptures

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dodecahedron sculpture

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Architectural study: modular residential construction

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A painting from the Cosmos series

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Gerard Caris in his studio

More artworks on Gerard Caris’s website

Wing Yi Hui and Lap Ming Wong, students at The Oslo School of Architecture and Design, conceived the Wood Pavilion resulting from their exploration on the performance of wood. The pavilion is made up of wood strips bent and laminated together to form a diamond-shaped lattice.

via archdaily

The Spain Pavilion, aka ‘The Basket’, is next on my list of favorites after Heatherwick’s cathedral and BIG’s bike haven. Designed by Spanish architect, Benedetta Tagliabue of EMBT (Enrique Miralles Benedetta Tagliabue), the key design element is its dramatic envelope which is cladded in a sea of undulating wicker panels in tones of beige, brown and black, all woven by craftsmen in China’s Shandong Province.

Thankfully, the line was a breeze, and it took me a mere half hour to enter the bowels of the ‘Basket’. Check out a few of my snapshots below:

close-up of the wicker (rattan) panels

After a feast of moving images introducing Spain and babies, we are greeted by the giant, perpetually smiling ‘bebe’ fondly named Small Miguelin. I was rather disappointed by the interior’s high-intensity artificial lights which seemed to take away the light-filtering quality of the wicker.

I was actually hoping for a more dramatic setting shown on the image below.  (image source: Shanghai Expo 2010)

view of the entire pavilion (image source: EMBT)

]]> http://www.pleatfarm.com/2010/06/28/shanghai-expo-2010-the-spanish-basket/feed/ 1 http://www.pleatfarm.com/2010/06/28/shanghai-expo-2010-pt-2-folding-stool-sightings/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=shanghai-expo-2010-pt-2-folding-stool-sightings http://www.pleatfarm.com/2010/06/28/shanghai-expo-2010-pt-2-folding-stool-sightings/#comments Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:11:36 +0000 pleatfarmer http://www.pleatfarm.com/?p=5412

For a day, the Shanghai Expo was awashed with visitors sitting on a motley of bubble-gummy folding stools, thanks to the F&B vendors selling these portable contraptions at the Expo entrance. Your weary legs will be forever grateful if you pluck this hotcake for that 9-hour wait into Saudi Arabia! Just drop it to the ground, and the stool unfolds. When on the go, simply fold up by pulling the handle. To all future Expo-goers, I recommend this baby, and buying a few sets won’t hurt (see the  lady below). Plus, at RMB25 (approx. US$4), it’s a steal!

the stool easily folds flat for portability (above image source: expo preview review)

The grouped stools (shown below) worked pretty well as a makeshift bench. A few more would probably make f0r a nice chaise for siestas, which reminds me of the Cloud stools by Joon&Jung.

detail of the stool below

Featuring hand-picked snapshots taken from my recent trip to the Shanghai Expo:

- Mexican Pavilion by SLOT -

The papalotes (kites) suspended over a talud (grassy slope) is the highlight of the Mexican pavilion. Sadly the turf area, which was intended as an open public space, sat empty.

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- Denmark Pavilion by BIG -

The Danish pavilion is built on a double spiral with pedestrian and cycling lanes, allowing visitors to experience Copenhagen’s city life.

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- the Netherlands Pavilion by John Körmeling -

Known as ‘Happy Street’, the Dutch pavilion is composed of a twisty, elongated pedestrian street suspended entirely on stilts and flanked by 26 houses.

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- Portugal Pavilion by Carlos Couto -

The exterior curtain walls of the pavilion are constructed from faceted cork panels: a Portuguese-sourced, recyclable and environmentally-friendly material.

Below is the joint detail where the cork panels meet

part 2 coming soon!

Greetings! Finally I’m back to the posting board after a short hiatus which took me to Shanghai, China, where I had the privilege of visiting the EXPO.

Navigating the gargantuan site was a physical challenge, let alone braving the haze, some occasional rain and a massive crowd rivaling the World Cup, but experiencing the pavilions first-hand was an absolute reward. One of the ‘hot spots’ I managed to catch was the UK pavilion by Thomas Heatherwick , which is clearly a favorite, so check out my snap-happy trek across the Seed Cathedral:

- UK Pavilion by Thomas Heatherwick -

The UK pavilion is a six-story high object formed from 60,000 slender transparent rods, which extend from the structure and quiver in the breeze. During the day, each of the 7.5m long rods act like fiber-optic filaments, drawing on daylight to illuminate the interior, thereby creating a contemplative awe-inspiring space. At night, light sources at the interior end of each rod allow the whole structure to glow. The pavilion sits on a landscape resembling paper that once wrapped the building and that now lies unfolded on the site.

The undulation created by the series of rods inside the ‘cathedral’

close-up of the embedded seeds in each rod

the pavilion seems to float on the reflective pool

underneath the ‘wrapping paper’ is a series of walkways, and one of them consists of a continuous ‘fissure’ along the side of the wall containing plant life.

Visitors who gained access into the pavilion were eventually rewarded with rest on the faceted landscape.

The cathedral on a cloudy night

This textural facade for an electrical plant in Colombia by Felipe Gonzalez-Pacheco (MGP Architecture and Urbanism) is certainly a pleasing sight in such an industrial setting. Made up of a series of lightweight prefab concrete shells, the building skin generates a visual effect similar to the texture of organic fabrics and woven bamboo fencing.

The undulating vertical panels on the facade, punctured by a series of slits, generate a play of light and shadow, and raising the skin above ground gives the building a certain lightness and fragility in contrast to the weight of the concrete.

The facade assembly consists of concrete shells anchored to the structure through bolts and steel plates.

Photography: Andrés Valbuena

via plataforma arquitectura

Minnesotan architect, Jeff Montague, recently submitted images of his prototype called the Storage Paper, made in collaboration with  Minneapolis-based HouMinn Practice. Storage Paper consists of a module of fissured fabric pockets that works as a wallpaper when it’s flat. As a storage device, the pockets bulge and expand when objects are stuffed within.

Designer’s statement: Storage Paper operates somewhere between wallpaper, storage and the modern living environment. The project interrogates each entities capacity to affect and be affected upon by users with various behavioral capacities (i.e. a young child’s ability to engage and act upon the material properties with an environment is very different than a mature adult).

close-up of the fabric pockets

Jeff was initially inspired by origami, and how surface cutouts generate a voluminous expansion.

You can view Storage Paper at the ‘Envelopes’ exhibition at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery

Designed by London-based architecture firm, Levitt Bernstein Associates, the aluminium-cladded facade was specially designed to function as a louvre system allowing ventilation for the boiler room of the University of Liverpool’s new energy centre. The wall cladding consists of removable diamond-patterned aluminium sheets, whose scale-like form continually changes character as it catches the light in ever-changing ways.

Photography: Eddie Jacob

via archdaily

The DIY Reykjavik pavilion is a temporary installation initiated and designed by Arnaldur Scram and Simon Stigsby of New York-based design firm Shift.

Constructed with one thousand aluminum triangles, each varying in size, shape, fold, and configuration, the pavilion was designed and processed through a variety of 3D software, laser-cut then folded and riveted by hand.

Aluminum was deliberately chosen due to its unique structural challenges, its abundance and recyclability, but also for its potential to generate debate about the current and future use of the material, specifically in Iceland.

Design statement:”The project is about testing the possibilities that ultimately arise with a collapse Iceland has seen. The modern ideological system which governed Iceland in every way has failed and Iceland is now about actualizing opportunities, not admiring false visions. How do designers navigate within this new reality? Are we going to look backwards and let the future happen or are we going to find a way to navigate forward using what we have at hand? DIY Reykjavik pavilion is about political controversy, new economy, new technology and community to ask questions about Iceland’s future.”

detail of the folded and riveted aluminum triangles

via Bustler