Flower Pavilion | Atelier Zündel Cristea

Communicate about Nature today

The IGA Berlin 2017 exhibition will celebrate the Garden and explore its various forms in the art of living with nature and the quality of life it offers. The communication of such an event requires a wide visibility in order to defend the role of Nature in our contemporary society. The aim of our project is to illustrate the theme of the Garden by addressing public interest in terms of image and communication.

The pavilions are flowers!

A popular green icon: the flower.

Symbolism and popularity

For the promotion of the event, the original idea is to give the pavilions a clear shape that would be simple and universal. We chose a flower because its shape is easily recognizable. The flower calls to mind everyone’s imagination. Thus the pavilions are materialized as giant flowers and act as a mnemonic reminder for the public to associate the event with something familiar and welcoming.

Identification and appropriation

The ambition of the IGA Berlin exhibition is to gather together public around a common concern for Nature. The flower expresses the popular character of the event. The choice for a design that is not elitist allows anyone to imagine himself in the exhibition and to wander freely around the pavilions.

Design and bio mimicry

Bio mimicry is an engineering method that takes inspiration from shapes and solutions found in nature. Therefore the design of the pavilions transposes the simple shape of a flower. It is associated to vegetal reproduction and to plants' pollination. It symbolizes the idea of a prosperous Nature.

A village of flowers

Permaculture and functionality

The installation of the pavilions is inspired of permaculture concepts. It is an application of bio mimicry in the art of designing territories. Thus the layout of the pavilions is taken from the observation of natural ecosystems. This method identifies various elements which compose it and search to link them in a complex, yet coherent layout. With elements grouped this way, the design reproduces the efficiency of complementary ecosystems in which the products of a first one meet the needs of a second one. The elements of the system then act in a collaborative way according to their use, to the frequency of movements between them and to the time spent in each one. The resulting layout is similar to the functioning of a village wherein various activities take place in total complementarity.

Installation and visibility

The site for the IGA Berlin 2017 exhibition is located in a park of nearly 10000m² whereas the footprint of a pavilion is of 16m². So to increase the visibility of the pavilions, we propose a proliferating system that works like village developing with a variety of functions. To allow this proliferation, the assembling device of the pavilion is modular. Each module can be combined to the others so the size can fit the scale of the park.

Modularity and promenade

The architecture of the pavilions is made flexible thanks to the modular system. As the groups of pavilions can be seen as villages, several spatial layouts offer various possible uses of the park. Thus the pavilions can be assembled together in linear, nodal or tangential ways, depending on their location along the exhibition’s path. The dialogue with Nature can then take many different forms according to the evolving layout of the pavilions.

Architectural description

Repartition of programs within the pavilions follows the possibilities of assembling. The design choice considers the totality of the installation and the pavilion as a component of a whole. The module is primarily adapted to be assembled while maintaining its aesthetic and constructive functionality, if independently built.

Flexibility and combination

The form of the pavilions is designed to meet the characteristics of flexibility and combination, as required by the program. The device is inspired by the composition of a flower. Thus the basic module is a petal which can be combined to other petals and form a whole flower pavilion. Then the surface varies depending on the number of petals that are combined. Finally the elements of the program define the function of each pavilion and reveal their singularity.

Module description

The module is essentially made of an inflatable roof, filled with air, the cheapest and most renewable element you can find on earth. The inflatable is precisely adapted to the needs of a temporary exhibition. It is easily transportable, fast to assemble and sustainable in time. The inflatable‘s membrane is made of white PVC in analogy to a flower petal. The curved shape of the roof allows rainwater to flow in the outskirts of the module. A metallic column, which is funded superficially into the ground, takes a flared head to support the inflatable roof. The same column is hollow so it can integrate a technical sheath with all the electricity and air supplies. At the top of it, a lamp provides artificial light for inside and outside the module. The illumination of the pavilion contributes to its visibility and transforms it into an urban signal.

The site of the park is serviced primarily to the installation. In a pavilion the coating of the floor is made of asphalt that is molded into metallic circles on a depth of 2cm. Its pattern is a floor projection of the flower shape too. The whole ground is casted onto a tarpaulin that can be removed when the exhibition finishes. This solution allows both a fast assembling and disassembling while reducing the maintenance. The evacuation and the recycling of the used components are also made easier. Such a system forms a simple and flexible covering that can be customized and adapt to the different functions of the pavilions.