Under the name, Trans-Computational Membranes, the Architectural Association Visiting School Madrid challenges the conception of flexibility within the context of spatial re-adaptation.
The textile pavilion developed for the 2014 edition was conceived from the idea of utilising low cost materials with a high degree of flexibility, interweaving elements together for creating localised stiffness in the areas of the structure with higher level of stress.
In continuum mechanics, stress refers to a physical quantity that expresses the internal forces that each particle exert on its neighbour. Trans-Computational Pavilion 2.0 tries to introduce a broader concept of what a particle (or minimal element) could be, understanding each flexible element within it as what each particle would represent in a continues material.
PVC pipes bundle into new structural objects and textile pieces get stitched together to generate continuous surface. Thus membrane structures generate compression rings for the tubular objects to stay connected, at the same time this linear structure is pushing the membrane for maintaining its tension, creating a symbiotic relationship which results in a stiff architectural element.
PAVILION DESIGN TEAM: Manuel Jimenez Garcia, Roberto Garcia, Antonio Guijarro, Maria Olmos, Miguel A. Jimenez, Ignacio Viguera, Jorge Cerdá, Marina Rodriguez, Vicente Soler, Silvia Rivera, Maria Olmeda, Jose Luis E. Penelas
AA VISITING SCHOOL DIRECTOR: Christopher Pierce.
PROGRAMME DIRECTOR: Manuel Jiménez García.
LOCAL COORDINATOR: Jose Luis E. Penelas.
FACULTY: Roberto García Vélez, María Olmos Zúnica, Antonio Guijarro, Vicente Soler.
SPONSORS: Architectural Association, Roca, Universidad Europea Madrid, Official College of Architects (COAM), Actíu, Philips, Volumaniac, Forster Rohner Textile Innovations and the British Embassy Madrid.
