MEXICAN PAVILION COMPETITION, SHANGAI 2010
The current exhibition technology based on video projections, light effects and multimedia has transformed the contemporary world fair pavilions into indifferent ‘black boxes’. A visit to such a fair thus becomes a interrupted route from dark space to dark space and its architecture is reduced to merely the superficial cladding of the obstructive facades.
The pavilion proposed here functions, on the contrary, as an open structure of parallel walls allowing natural light into the pavilion and generating a continuous relation between interior and exterior spaces. The central patio in the heart of the pavilion reinforces this idea of openness. There is no strict separation between the interior of the pavilion and its environment: a dialectic relationship is established between the museographer proposal and the visitors walking on the broad avenues of the expo.
The 45 degree angle of the walls makes that the pavilion is perceived in very different ways from different angles: sometimes as a complete transparent structure, sometimes as a successive rhythm of solid walls. The inclination of the volume towards the avenue makes the tectonic expression of the roof visible to the visitors as a fifth façade. The high parallel wall in close proximity to each other (4,6 meter) generates strong vertical spaces allows a whole variety of different spatial experiences: at certain moments visitors will pass perpendicular through long series openings in these walls, while at other moments walking parallel to these long structures opens op views towards the exterior. The second floor level adds a relation in height establishing direct views from the upper level to the ground floor and vice versa.
Collaborators: David Ortega (project director), Diego Escamilla, Per Carlsen / Location: World Expo Shangai 2010, China / Type: Open Competition – National Pavilion for World Expo / Surface: 4000 m2 / Organization: Proméxico / Date: March 2009