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As one of fourteen international firms invited to participate in the exhibition Architecture as Art exhibit at the XXI Triennale di Milano, we were asked by the curators to build human-scale installations as “the architectural equivalent of entries in a possible dictionary, such as Portico, Entrance, Rehabilitation, Roof, Shelter, Pavilion, etc.”
Six interlocking aluminum vaults spring from a triangular outdoor stage to define a new space for performance and serendipitous public use – and misuse.
The vault – historically erected over social gathering spaces, such as thermae, amphitheaters, and basilicas – is one of the most fundamental elements of architecture. While traditionally built with massive load-bearing masonry, and expressing solidity and strength, the aluminum vaults in Polycentric Pavilion are as thin as possible – 5mm – making their connection to the environment more tenuous, as they respond to external forces such as sound and wind. Sound – emanating from a performance, from the vaults moving with the wind, or elsewhere in the Bicocca grounds – is projected by the aluminum vaults in unfamiliar ways, heard by a mobile public.
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Polycentric Pavilion is conceived of as both an area for passive lounging, and a model for a more active and multi-directional performance.
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The varying relationships among the vaults, the deck, and the void allow performers and audience to decide whether the decking serves as a stage, seating, both, or neither, prompting multiple performance configurations.
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Client: XXIst Triennale di Milano International Exhibition (XX1T)
Curators: Nina Bassoli, Pier Luigi Nicolin
Location: Pirelli Hangar, Bicocca, Milan, Italy
Status: Completed
Dates: 2016
Program: Polycentric pavilion
Design Team: Eric Bunge, Mimi Hoang | Albert Figueras | Wei Wen
Collaborators: Structure: Craft Engineering Studio | Fabrication: Extravega; Tosetto
Photography: Michele Nastasi, courtesy Editoriale Lotus
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