llLab weaves ‘bamboo cloud’ pavilion to float over lower manhattan
CategoriesArchitecture

llLab weaves ‘bamboo cloud’ pavilion to float over lower manhattan

design pavilion 2023: reviving traditional craft

 

This year’s Design Pavilion for NYCxDESIGN included an experimental installation dubbed Bamboo Cloud, designed and crafted by Shanghai-based architecture studio llLab. The lightweight structure appeared to float over Gansevoort Plaza in New York‘s Meatpacking District from October 12th through 18th during Archtober 2023. Bamboo, a versatile and sustainable material, has been an integral part of architectural history for centuries. Primarily embraced in Asian and African regions, this resilient resource has been employed for a boundless number of architectural applications. From woven mats and panels to split strips for shingles and siding, to entire bamboo culms used for structural elements like columns, beams, and rafters. This rich tradition of bamboo architecture serves as the foundation for the Bamboo Cloud, which arrived this month in New York City. 

llLab weaves a 'bamboo cloud' design pavilion to float over lower manhattanimages © Xi Chen + Chris King

 

 

lllab weaves lightweight ‘clouds’ from bamboo

 

With Bamboo Cloud, the architects at llLab have taken the material to new heights, exploring an application that pushes the boundaries of what it can achieve. Bamboo’s strength and lightweight properties make it ideal for sustainable design innovations. The Design Pavilion for NYCxDesign exemplifies this potential in architecture. Composed of two amorphous ‘clouds’ constructed entirely from bamboo and supported by structural columns, the bamboo is intricately woven to form a porous surface that shelters a light and ethereal environment, ideal for relaxing and gathering in the city.

Bamboo Cloud is softly illuminated from within, as well as from below — thanks to a collaboration with architectural lighting design firm L’Observatoire International and  lighting suppliers Nanometer Lighting Color Kinetics. 

llLab weaves a 'bamboo cloud' design pavilion to float over lower manhattan
the Bamboo Cloud pavilion exemplifies the material’s versatility in New York City

 

 

from guilin to new york

 

The Shanghai-based team at llLab has been challenging the traditional applications of bamboo long before this Bamboo Cloud arrived in New York. The team had explored the material’s potential with a similar installation which, in 2020, occupied the dramatic, forested landscape of Guilin, China. see designboom’s coverage here!

Bamboo is still relatively ambiguously defined, though bamboo has been applied in various aspects in the field of architecture. In terms of structural calculation and material properties, it can still only be compared with wood in the role of ‘engineered bamboo,’ for imperfect construction implementation,’ said Hanxaio Liu, Founding Partner of llLab.However, the Bamboo Cloud intends to unify original bamboo and engineered bamboo in terms of materials and applications, as well as their properties and physical presentation.’

llLab weaves a 'bamboo cloud' design pavilion to float over lower manhattan
two bamboo ‘clouds’ shelter an open-air space for relaxing in the city

 

 

Hanxaio Liu continues: Bamboo Cloud focuses on the relationships between inherent material properties and their potential applications beyond convention. Bamboo has been mainly applied on the scale of handcraft, followed by the recent popularization of its utilization in sustainable buildings. However, the advantage of utilizing bamboo has not been thoroughly understood, so most applications have remained superficial.’

llLab weaves a 'bamboo cloud' design pavilion to float over lower manhattan
bamboo’s renewable nature makes it an environmentally responsible choice llLab weaves a 'bamboo cloud' design pavilion to float over lower manhattan
the Design Pavilion represents a vision for a fresh, sustainable future in architecture

Reference

a tapestry-like facade weaves across paperfarm’s veil house
CategoriesArchitecture

a tapestry-like facade weaves across paperfarm’s veil house

veil house: challenging public/private of compact urban living 

 

Situated near the historic ‘Taiwan-Renga’ (台灣煉瓦) brick kiln from 1899 that prospered in this working-class district in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the Veil House by Paperfarm revisits this history by weaving a modern, tapestry-like facade using floating clay bricks. In such an area with very narrow streets, and a hyperactive social fabric, privacy is often compromised. To maintain boundaries, windows are often shaded throughout the day; outdoor spaces, such as balconies and terraces, are left largely unused. The project challenges this public/private dynamic of compact urban living, creating a peaceful retreat that redefines this neighborhood’s typical house character: a perforated brick facade liberates the need for window treatments, still allowing filtered light into all the living spaces and bedrooms.

a tapestry-like facade made of clay bricks weaves across paperfarm's veil house in taiwan
all images © Daniel Yao

 

 

using clay bricks to create a breathable, permeable facade 

 

The impetus for security and privacy reimagines the home as a body with a breathable, permeable skin. Like skin’s pores, perforation density is devised according to the functional needs behind the enclosures. With cored bricks secured by rebars, shelf angles, and steel channels, the brick veil is designed to withstand the local challenges of earthquakes and typhoons. There are also three emergency exits, engineered with saw-tooth pivots, seamlessly inserted onto the facade,’ explains Paperfarm (see more here).

 

On the street level, automobile storage is provided without visually distracting pedestrian entry. The powder-coated stainless-steel door is 12 ft by 7 ft (366 cm by 214 cm) in size and is two inches thick. The door and its mechanical track are hung from above, installed behind five courses of veneer bricks with a guide rail below. The entry, through an interior garden, helps quiet the transition from the bustling city streets and provides a deep threshold into the heart of the Veil House, thus acting as a type of perforation

a tapestry-like facade made of clay bricks weaves across paperfarm's veil house in taiwan
challenging the public/private dynamic of compact urban living

 

 

paperfarm defines veil house around an atrium + rich materials

 

The residents circle an open atrium clad with 2×6 vertical aluminum louvers to enter the main living area on the second floor. This materiality pays homage to another Taiwanese vernacular of protected fenestrations while enhancing the home’s verticality. Programmatically, this atrium is the engine of the house: an urban garden on the ground floor; a light well introducing natural illuminance into the rooms on the bedroom’s balconies; an airshaft for cross-ventilation with the brick veil at the front facade; and a connector that ties circulation and program together across multiple floors. Behind the veil, this shifting perspective and the vertical stratification of the program accentuate public versus private relationships. This forms the central discourse on the introverted approach to the Veil House by Paperfarm.

a tapestry-like facade made of clay bricks weaves across paperfarm's veil house in taiwan
using floating clay bricks to create a breathable facade

 

 

Throughout the Veil House interior, custom-designed terrazzo flooring defines spaces within the larger, open-plan living floors, while full-length, custom white-oak millwork conceals the kitchen and the entertainment and storage spaces. The reductive use of materials enhances the focus on the brick veil and the respite gained in the quiet, minimal interior. ‘Ultimately, the defining characteristic of the Veil House is the desire to build a cozy, airy lifestyle behind an urban façade that successfully withdraws from the frenetic street life,’ concludes Daniel Yao from Paperfarm. 

a tapestry-like facade made of clay bricks weaves across paperfarm's veil house in taiwan
entrance to the Veil House by Paperfarm

Reference