Floatheca Sp of the Choetheque Series

 

This Choe_ project reworks notions evident in the previous project of the same series, further exploring polygonal planar forms. Key gesture remains the architectural reworking of means of vertical movement as the sole structural elements supporting the building.

In contrast to previous projects that feature hollow solids demarcating the points of admission, here the Choe-legs are boxed-in and offer only individual and isolated doors, of an almost conventional type, as entryways: The main glazed area in the overall structure follows the single stair that leads to the terrace, while another glazed wall leaves open the truncated tip of the conical edge of the planar layout. Programmatically, the pavilion is foremost intended for art installations and particularly for painting exhibitions.

It is a monocoque in-situ concrete structure that unlike its sister iterations, (Floatheca Rh and Cy), does not endeavor to undo this single-mass appearance (and thus does not offer an articulation of horizontal and vertical plans as these other projects). The final ensemble maintains its monolithic outlook, yet is animated by a regular grid of skylights. Duplicate slabs under the stairs offer diagonal passages for mechanical services, ductwork, moving from the two main horizontal slabs and into the ground level.

Each skylight-cover is (in plan) a perfect square placed on the concrete shell. This square hides entirely an actual opening shaped as a quadrant and inscribed in that square. Thus the skylight itself is a vertically extruded quadrant that is removed from the thick concrete surface of the composite concrete wall/slab. This square plane is then slanted at its diagonal, keeping on elevation zero the center of the skylight's quarter-circle. The inclining diagonal of the initial square is set at a 30° angle in relation to the horizontal plane of the concrete shell. The square shape is then folded down about this diagonal and is inescapably deformed into two surfaces, each being an equilateral (non-orthogonal) triangle that lines the initial square base. The final projecting sides of the skylight cover are of rhomboidal shape, with sides of two different lengths. The conical projection covers an area greater than the surface of the quarter-circle hole. These skylight covers thus project up like thorns, offering a spiky texture.

Functionally, the protrusion ensures that no direct light enters the interior at all times, a condition that ensures proper day-lighting - consistent and regulated - for the exhibition space within (. That way, and due to the very thickness of the composite concrete slab, direct light practically never enters the main gallery space, regardless of the orientation of the skylight and of the sun beams. (However, for presentation purposes, skylights are pictured in photos as admitting direct sunlight).

The pattern of the skylights is geometrically constant, as shown in the unfolded diagram of the building. Differentiations in its axial organization are the outcome of each surface folding into its final position. The seemingly random final orientation of the skylights on each individual surface masks this singular geometric principle followed here.

 

 

Floatheca Sp of the Choetheque Series
Location : Curtiembre, Paranà, Provincia de Entre Ríos, Argentina.
Aristotheke Eutectonics, æ®: Office of Architecture, Research and Design.
Text, Design, Renders, 3D-Modeling: Aristotelis Dimitrakopoulos (AFD).
Team Credits: Photographic Editing and Axonometrics: Maria Roussaki, Ivana Bosnjak, Aggeliki Giombre, Marina Antolovič, AFD. Drawing: Vaso Gkioka, Maria Roussaki, AFD. Maquette: Luis Miguel Carmona Gómez.
Maquette Photography: AFD. Maquette Photographic Editing: Persefoni Mavromanolaki, AFD.