WINDSHAPE: Project
Description
Photos : Courtesy of nARCHITECTS
Windshape was an ephemeral structure commissioned by the Savannah College
of Art & Design (SCAD) as a venue and gathering space near their Provence
campus in Lacoste, France. Built by nARCHITECTS and a team of SCAD students
over a period of five weeks, Windshape became the small town’s main
public meeting space, and hosted concerts, exhibitions, and ceremonies
throughout the summer of 2006.
Windshape was conceived as two eight-meter-high pavilions that dynamically
changed with the Provençale wind. A vine-like structural network
of white plastic pipes, joined together and stretched apart by aluminum
collars, emerged from the limestone walls and terraces of Lacoste’s
hillside. Fifty kilometers of white polypropylene string was threaded
through the lattice to create swaying enclosures. The string was woven
into dense regions and surfaces and pinched to define doorways, windows,
and spaces for seating.
By varying the degree of tension in the string, nARCHITECTS built Windshape
to respond to the wind in several ways, from rhythmic oscillations to
fast ripples across its surfaces. During heavy winds, Windshape moved
dramatically, and made a hissing sound akin to dozens of jumpropes. The
pavilions took on a multitude of temporary forms over the course of the
summer, as they billowed in and out, and momentarily came to rest. In
this way, the local winds and the Mistral gave shape to constantly mutating
structures. The pavilions were illuminated at night against the backdrop
of the Marquis de Sade’s castle, and were visible from as far away
as the village of Bonnieux, 5 kilometers away.
The pavilions’ design reflects a desire to remix the hard and soft
landscapes of Provence in an innovative tectonic system. The village of
Lacoste appears hewn out of limestone, its streets and network of terraces
seemingly chiseled out as voids in the hillside. In contrast, the surrounding
fields, vineyards, and lavender bushes form a luminous, soft, and changeable
landscape. Windshape refers in its exterior form and angular geometry
to the medieval townscape, while echoing the mutating, softer agricultural
landscape in its internal experience and dynamic qualities.
Windshape was a laboratory that allowed us to test the idea of a building
that can respond to natural stimuli. Rather than simply sheltering us
from the elements, buildings of the future could connect inhabitants to
their environment, reminding them of its strength and beauty.
Photos : Courtesy of nARCHITECTS
Construction Process
Windshape was constructed by nARCHITECTS and a team of SCAD students over
a period of five weeks. The architects developed a construction sequence
that optimized the use of measured and non-measured fabrication methods.
The basic components of string, plastic pipes and aluminum collars were
all digitally modeled and translated into a set of 2D drawings and data.
To achieve the project’s complex, interwoven geometries, the pavilions
were built as a series of stacked and staggered “tripods”. Comprised
of groups of three pipes inserted into an aluminum collar, the tripods
were pre-assembled, woven with string on the ground, and hoisted in place.
Interstitial string surfaces were then woven in between the tripods in
the air.
nARCHITECTS exploited the different properties of two weak and supple
materials to create a strong yet elastic structural network. Similar to
an archer’s bow, the pipes were placed in bending and the string
in tension to achieve structural integrity as well as a desired range
of movement in the wind. The interdependent structural system of string,
pipes and collars required a flexible fabrication method. An initial stitching
of string through the pipes allowed for improvisation in weaving strategies
to provide enclosure, openings or stability. In this way, Windshape’s
indeterminate structure relied equally on precise translations from digital
models as well as in-situ building tactics.
Photos : Courtesy of nARCHITECTS
WINDSHAPE: Credits
Location: Lacoste, France
Program: Ephemeral pavilions
Completion: July 2006
Client: Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)
Materials: 50km polypropylene string, plastic pipes, aluminum collars.
Area / Size: n/a
Team: nARCHITECTS: Eric Bunge, Mimi Hoang (Partners); Daniela Zimmer (Project
Architect), Kazuya Katagiri, Takuya Shinoda, Shuji Suzumori. Fabrication
by nARCHITECTS and SCAD (Jim Bischoff, Michael Gunter, Cindy Hartness,
Michael Porten, Ryan Townsend, Troy Wandzel, with Natalie Bray and Sarah
Walko)
All components were fabricated by nARCHITECTS + SCAD, with the exception
of the aluminum collars, which were fabricated by Monsieur J. F. Mathieu,
of Apt, France.
Photos : Daniela Zimmer
Paris Architecture
nARCHITECTS
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adrian welch / isabelle lomholt