The Eco Pavilion 2018 is the eighth edition of a competition that, since 2010, has served as a space for reflection on architecture through temporary construction inside the courtyard of the Museo Experimental el Eco. This year's edition was framed around the concept of "pure architecture," based on a premise proposed by architect Isaac Broid.
Campanario, this year's winning project developed by TO, proposes a flexible space built from metal rods and circular copper plates (crafted in Michoacán) installed to form a partial canopy over the courtyard. In turn, the installation becomes a musical instrument that expands the scope of architectural practice, engaging visitors through their interaction with a structure defined by the striking simplicity of its artisanal fabrication.
Project description courtesy of the design team:
Origin
Every work that achieves deep beauty through simplicity, compelling synthesis, and suggestive abstraction is born from a complex spirit and rigorous, exhaustive reflection. The moving interior of the Satélite Towers speaks to this origin; their powerful beauty stems in part from the discovery of their structural logic, from deciphering how their empty interiors made them possible. Our pavilion is a reflection centered on this idea.
Pavilion
A plane made of copper plates—which from above appears as a clean, reflective surface, mirroring the clay tile floor below, and from underneath offers a new way of experiencing the courtyard—exposes the tectonics that support it. A new atmosphere of shifting shadows, reflections, and sounds is created. For two months, the museum hosts a bell tower.
Core
We are drawn to the idea of a completely legible construction process, understanding it and revealing it from its origin. The grid of rods forms a stable structural system that allows movement and accommodates swaying. Their contact triggers the collision of the plates to generate sound. The occupant becomes both musician and spectator.
Skin
Copper is a pure element shaped by fire and hammer, harboring an alchemy revealed upon contact with the sun. We hold the craftsmanship that brings it to light in the highest esteem. Goeritz’s stele becomes a detached witness to this skin, which arrived to reflect it. It is discovered from the street as a reflection on the three existing gray walls, and at the end of the long access corridor, as an initial reflection on the museum’s ceiling. The shape of the plate is designed to facilitate sound and resonance—echoes of a silent architecture.
Instrument
The forest prompts a new occupation of space. A playful labyrinth that can be touched and shaken. The plane starts at the horizontal line of the window cross and ends at a height of 1.95 meters, confining us before releasing us into an open, flexible area. From there, the solemnity and original scale of the space are rediscovered through the inclusion of this new reflective surface. Systole and diastole from the street, the corridor, the entrance, and the exit.
End
In the future, the Pavilion is 100% reusable. The steel rods will be repurposed for construction. The 144 plates will be sold, with all proceeds donated. These are pieces of great beauty and artisanal value, with endless possible uses.
Credits
Design: Carlos Facio | José Amozurrutia
Mariana Brito, Úrsula Rebollar, Álvaro Martínez
Collaborators: Ana Lu Villaseñor, Angélica Mota, Patricia García Morales, and Sergio Carbajal
Renders: Pedro Lechuga
Copper Plates: Maestro Raúl Rauda and family
Prototype: Maestros Juan Manuel Escobar, Francisco Escobar
Acoustic Consulting: Diego Espinosa, Jorge Galaviz
Photography: Dane Alonso, César Béjar
Organizers: Museo Experimental El Eco, UNAM. Buró – Buró
This article was written by Mónica Arellano. The translation is powered by AI.
