Chilean-German architecture practice GUN Architects' latest installation, accompanied by an exhibition in the AA gallery, brings the micro-climate of Chile to the UK. Using tree-like structures and pyramidal fabric ‘stalactites,’ the architects create a unique ecology that is at once natural and material. The architects' description of the installation, after the break...
From the Architects. Rainforest is a public pavilion by Chilean-German architecture practice GUN Architects. A five-metre-high micro-climate of minimal tree-like structures with a field of pyramidal fabric ‘stalactites’ which gently drip water, the pavilion is an oasis of raindrops, pools and plants – a distinct ecosystem that blends GUN Architects’ striking material construction with the natural environment to cultivate the formation of an entirely unique ecology.
Part of the firm’s ongoing exploration into natural dynamics in the diverse Chilean climate - translated into the context of London's Bedford Square - water serves as the protagonist of the architecture, and the production of temporal atmospheres is based on its circulation and accumulation.
The installation is accompanied by an exhibition in the AA gallery detailing the development of this research with photographs of Helene Binet and Cristobal Palma.
This project is supported by Consejo Nacional de la Cultura y las Artes Chile, British Council in Chile, AKT II, Interdesign, Reggiani, Anglo Chilean Society - Alan Macdonald Endowment.
Architects: GUN Architects (Jorge Godoy, Lene Nettelbeck, Loreto Figueroa, Judith Tremblay, Pablo Campos, Manuel Garcia, Fannie Fajolles, Rocio Vicencio)
Engineering: AKT II Fabrication: Joseph Waller
Fabrications Stalactites tailoring: Enrique Canales
Prototype fabrication: Oscar Leal
Hydrologic System: Camilo Cobo
Lighting Design: Contraluz
Geometry consultancy: Veronica Arcos
Ferns: Palmstead Nurseries
