Madrid-based architecture studio P + S Estudio de Arquitectura designed a giant tin scaffold wrapped with a triangular sack, made of sackcloth in Granada, Spain.
Design features
The structure, named Aire Pavilion, was installed for the TAC! Urban Architecture Festival 2022,
an annual festival that will take place from October 14 to November 14, 2022 in Granada.
The P + S Estudio de Arquitectura project was the winning proposal in an international competition for TAC! Urban Architecture Festival 2022.
The pavilion of 236 square meters, located in the Plaza del Humiladero, represents
“a state of incomplete construction or in the process of construction with its entire structure, semi-finished architecture
Only three materials, including steel scaffolding, jagged fabric and chipping stone,
make up the pavilion itself into a minimalist design. Upon entering, visitors can feel themselves inside a sanctuary.
Due to its flexibility and biodegradable elements, the tent-like pavilion can be disassembled and reinstalled anywhere.
The Aire Pavilion is built on an ephemeral, brittle and intangible fantasy,
a reference to one of architecture’s most important and intangible elements.
TAC! , which was first launched this year, is an annual festival organized by the Ministry of Transport,
Mobility and Urban Agenda.
The festival aims to promote “innovation and experimentation in architecture through the construction of a temporary pavilion in different Spanish cities”.
The brief for the 2022 competition was to design a temporary pavilion, which could highlight the Plaza del Humiladero in Granada.
It can provide a home to host cultural and entertainment activities in the city.
The spatial strategy of the pavilion was also compiled in the initial process of containing the AIRE which will define an indefinite space.
And open to the multiple needs of each TAC Festival! And the city of Granada and its inhabitants. Enhance the transformation and adaptability of space,
without the need for operations greater than the opening or closing of the fragile limit that defines it, ”
Design principles
The studio also bases all of its design principles on three material strategies:
“Create an exercise in synthesis, constructive honesty and sustainability.”
In the first stage, they identified the scaffolding system, which could be a reflection of the industrial organization.
Although the studio knew its origins traced back to the beginnings of the architectural tradition,
today this approach represents “modularity and globalization in building”.
As well as the apparent ephemerality and fragility, which is doomed to disappear once the work is finished.
A scaffolding system serves as the wing’s load-bearing structure.
On the other hand, the resistant fabric, which is a lighter fabric, becomes an envelope of burlap fabric.
This fabric is also used as a symbol of territory, crafts, shade – or control of light, tradition and vernacular knowledge.
This is recognizable and fashionable in the area.
The third component of the project is a group of Reprab stones taken from the Sierra Elvira region.
The presence of the stones provides the necessary counterweight to the structure and secures
a new urban furnishing in the surroundings of the pavilion, linking the intervention to the Plaza del Humiladero.
The use of these three materials demonstrates Aire’s commitment to the circular economy,
as well as the value of the local economy and the traditions and customs of Granada.
The studio also confirmed that scaffolding can be rented and will be converted to a new use once the stand is dismantled.
Riprap stone will be returned to the original quarry as well.
Finally, the locally made burlap weave will also have a second life.
As it is an item widely used as a shade in the city, the tapestry can be easily moved to another public place in Granada.
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