Expandable Surface Pavilion / Pablo Esteban Zamorano, Nacho Martí and Jacob Bek

Architects: Pablo Esteban Zamorano, Nacho Martí and Jacob Bek
Location: Cologne, Germany
Project Team: Nacho Martí, Jacob Bek, Pablo Zamorano
Client: RESOL
Project Year: 2011
Project Area: 16 sqm
Photographs: Courtesy of Pablo Esteban Zamorano

This design manifested into a small meeting room-pavilion that explores complex geometries generated from plywood sheets.

The project was created for the recent SPOGA furniture design exhibition in Cologne, Germany and is part of an ongoing research into Expandable Surface Systems, which began in collaboration with the Emergent Technologies and Design Programme at the Architectural Association. The project was designed, fabricated and mounted by the designers.

Through a novel fabrication process, we developed a method to achieve zero waste of material and dispense the need for additional formwork. Along with this material process, a parametric computational tool was created to find the required cutting pattern to achieve a specific geometry. Both modes of fabrication and computation were based on material properties to ensure the system’s structural and construction feasibility.

Text provided by Pablo Esteban Zamorano