by HASSELL & Nagami’s 3D printed public pavilion for to.org
architecture studio Hassel has teamed up with the creative collective to.org and 3d printing Studio Nagami to develop a prototype for a 3D printed public pavilion made from recycled plastic. Inspired by indigenous shelters, the prototype serves as a focal point for reflection and education and is easily adaptable to a range of extreme climates and environments. ‘The design is the start of a larger plan to create a series of pavilions that will stimulate conversations about material waste and how technology can solve our planet’s most pressing problems. writes HASSEL.
all images courtesy of HASSELL
Plastic as an inexhaustible building material
The concept for the pavilion grew out of a meeting between Hassell’s Head of DesignXavier De Kestelier, Manuel Jiménez Garcia, founder by Nagami, an additive manufacturing specialist, and Nachson Mimran, Co-Founder and Creative Executive Officer from to.org. Together, the team sought to address the global challenge of plastic waste by setting a precedent that highlights plastic waste as an inexhaustible building material.
Manuel Jimenez Garcia does it: ‘We have more than 5 billion tons of plastic waste on our planet. As 3D printing becomes more widespread in architecture and construction, we can massively increase demand for recycled plastics and accelerate the process of cleaning up our oceans and landfills. We hope this project will help inspire a new generation of architects to truly believe that radically changing construction, powered by eco-innovation, is really possible.’
The resulting prototype can be easily transported and assembled on site
highly customizable, cost effective and climate adaptable
HASSELL and Nagami guided the design using computer techniques and relied solely on 3D printing for manufacture, allowing the public pavilion to be adapted to local climatic conditions at almost no additional cost. ‘The pavilion pushes the boundaries of 3D printing to create a fully fledged functional architecture. 3D printing allows greater geometric freedom compared to most traditional manufacturing processes. This architectural freedom, which set a precedent for the future of design, allowed the designers to design the pavilions to run with minimal energy consumption and be off-grid,’ comments the architectural office.
More specifically, the resulting prototype can be easily transported and assembled on site, with the main structure being 3D printed in 24 separate parts. Currently under construction at the Nagami factory in Spain, the design also includes built-in seats for more capacity.
The structure is hermetically sealed for colder climates
Similar to the concept of a Qarmaq – a one-bedroom, all-season family shelter used by Inuits – HASSEL turned to Indigenous shelters to develop strategies that would be sustainable and adaptable to harsh environments. For colder climates, the pavilion will be hermetically sealed and its outer skin will have slats that trap snow and create natural insulation – similar to how snow igloos insulate. In hotter climates, overlapping louvers act as natural shading, promoting passive cooling, cross-ventilation and water harvesting. Additionally, the added skylight and opening features reinforce a connection with the natural surroundings, allowing in natural light or ventilation depending on the context.
Beyond this collaboration, Xavier de Kestelier and his team have created a 3D printed habitat for space explorers on Mars as part of NASA’s international 3D Printed Habitat Challenge and the Design Museum’s Moving to Mars exhibition. He also ran the robotics studio for the Norman Foster Foundation, which focused on large-scale 3D printing using recycled plastics.
The 3D printed pavilion is made from recycled plastics
Using 3D printing for high customization and low cost
