THEMATIC PAVILION: Square units of Metal Sheet only that knock down everything, when ACa’s design is made of over 10,000 pieces of metal
Last year, ACa Architects won the Thematic Pavilion 2022 award. This year, the studio has returned for a new impressive design with Empower Steel, by introducing new materials as screened steel to the designing scene. Just by looking at the layout, Aca’s pavilion for 2023 is definitely worth the wait as last year.
Interestingly, when you take a closer look at the Thematic Pavilion itself, you’ll see that no matter what angle you look at, there’s no internal structure: no columns nor beams. Everything that stands is made up of several units of square-shape metal pieces of the same size that are formed into different structure in the booth. What is the concept behind the detailed design of both the piece and the idea? Today, we sit and talk with Khun Joke – Anon Chitranukroh, Founder and Director from ACa Architects.
The design of this year’s Thematic Pavilion from ACa Architects will be showcasing the uniqueness and full potential of materials by using over 20,000 pieces of color-coated and printed metal sheets from Empower Steel which have been cut into square pieces to form a modular structure.
The materials are created into various organic forms including floors, walls, ceilings, furniture, counters, sculptures, shelves, etc. The floor is made of metal sheets with selected colors and texture to match the movable structure, connecting every element in the booth.
At the same time, although from the layout of the Thematic Pavilion, the area of Exhibition Space and Thematic Pavilion, which is a public space, is divided in half. ACa chooses to lay the axis of the entrance corridor, which is the main axis, in a diagonal way. Therefore, the booth divided into zones is harmonious and no matter which direction visitors enter, they can walk through both zones.
‘PART of NATURE’:
Metal is part of nature.
When inquiring about the origin of the concept, before settling on the modular structure made of 20,000 assembled metal sheets, Khun Joke recounted that it was a replicate of the molecular structure of metal. After studying the material, it was found that metal is made up of metallic elements which are part of nature.
“Nature and metal may be seen by some as two different elements. Metal looks rigid; it looks a bit industrial, doesn’t it? However, metal is a chemical element formed from nature. It’s natural in that sense.”
Sunflower: The Fibonacci Sequence, Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/lucapost/694780262/ (ขวา)
“We did research that everything in nature, such as trees and leaves, if you zoom into the cells, you will see that they are made up of small molecules with a particular module. A beehive is formed of hexagonal modules. Various materials are formed by putting together geometric form in an orderly manner to produce a design. The same can be said for metal. In terms of chemistry, it is also bonding from such small molecules as well.
Our booth selected this idea and applied it to the design. Our form is formed from several pieces of just one singular style. The method of joining is what will bring out the overall creative form.”
With this idea in mind, ACa began by transforming metal into a geometric square metal sheet, cutting holes on 4 sides to build up a Modular Structure. There are 2 styles of unit forms: type A and B. These units act as basic modules to create other forms of the pavilion.
CHALLENGE YOUR IMAGINATION,
IGNITE YOUR CREATIVITY
Another goal of the pavilion is vision encouraging imagination. Empower Steel specializes in embossed and textured steel sheet manufacturing with the vision to ‘Empower your imagination’. When combined with ACa’s pavilion design which uses connection technique similar to that of Lego pieces, the two elements break the old thinking pattern of visitors because every time these parts are dismantled and reconstructed, you will enjoy with endless possibilities of types of structures.
In addition to the booth that challenges the perspective of creating architectural piece from metal, ACa Architects has also prepared a workshop for visitors to ignite their own creativity from the very same square sheets used in the pavilion. ACa provides samples of actual pieces of units from the booth you’re standing on, so whether you have the knowledge of architecture or not, you can enjoy the experience.
“People should be wondering how are the pieces attached to one another and how does the design stay upright? We will provide a table for visitors to connect these pieces to form a small mini model, with 1-2-3-4 steps like Lego to place the sheets. We will also show a video on how to assemble this booth.”
Every small molecule of design points to safety.
How to design materials to be safe? Khun Joke pointed out that this matter is especially important because when it’s a public area, people of all ages can enter the event, so he ensures that every aspect is well thought-out, as follows:
- Every corner of every metal sheet is rounded.
- Each metal sheet is designed to be thick, formed by two square metal sheets sandwiching the HMR core by cutting the edge of the sheet to be shorter than that of the HMR to prevent the sheets from being raised and to lessen concerns about the thinness of the metal sheets.
- The floor is constructed as a structure to ensure the smoothness and evenness of the pavilion floor. The frame also adds another layer of strength to ensure stability in the design placement, even when all pieces are already upright.
- The floor is equipped with tactile studs to help visitors recognize their position when walking, preventing visitors from walking too close to the design.
- A ground wire is installed to ensure the safety of electrical wiring inside the booth.
Even after this event ends,
the pieces can still ‘be reused’.
The pavilion has been designed while considering sustainability from the beginning of work process until the end. ACa starts from deciding the metal sheet of 40X40 cm. size to make the most use of the area of 90 cm rolled metal (can be cut into two pieces, while allowing measurement error), characteristics of materials designed in geometric shapes, the size of the modules is convenient in terms of transportation and at the end, all these units can be removed.
” ‘Materials’ therefore have a longer lifespan and can move forward both in terms of life cycle and
for installation at the next event.“
“Materials” therefore have a longer lifespan and can move forward both in terms of life cycle and for installation at the next event.
This year, Thematic Pavilion is as hot as the weather in April, more extreme than ever in every design, no matter which industry you come from, don’t miss it! Let’s brainstorm ideas and have fun together at this free event. All of these can be found at Architect’23 “Tum Tad: Time of Togetherness” to be held scheduled to be held during 25- 30 April, 2023 at Challenger Hall, IMPACT Muang Thong Thani.
