Santiago Cuenca Palacios_ THE HEXA-GROWTH

THE HEXA-GROWTH ETSAB - Master’s Degree in Advanced Studies in Architecture - Barcelona SANTIAGO CUENCA JIMENA CARDENAS

UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE CATALUNYA

ETSAB

MBArch - Master’s Degree in Advanced Studies in Architecture - Barcelona

THE HEXA- GROWTH

NEW REPRESENTATIONS & NEW CONCEPTIONS

Professors Mara Partida Héctor Mendoza Students Santiago Cuenca Palacios Jimena Cárdenas Castro

ARCHITECT

presentation

architects

CORRALES & MOLEZUN

Jose Antonio Corrales 1921 - 2010

Ramon Vazquez Molezun 1922- 1993

Corrales studied architecture in the “Escuela Ténica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid”, very early in his career he won the National Award of Architecture. He was member of the” Madrid Group”; during many years he was also a professor in the architecture school were he studied.

Molezun also studied in the “Escuela Ténica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid”; after he studied in the Spanish Academy in Rome.

Molezun and Corrales began to work together in 1952; their office was active forty years, and it is a reference of the Post-war Spanish architecture.

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ARIK LEVY

Artist, technician, photographer, designer, filmmaker 1963

Levy was born in Tel Aviv, he attended the Art Center Eureope in Switzerland where he graduated in Industrial Design; after that, he went to Japon where he consolidated his ideas. He has a successful career as an artist and as a designer. Currently he works from his studio in Paris. His work is mainly related with set designs and his sculptures of the “Rock� series.

ARCHITECT

presentation

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extrude

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adapting to the topography

“The Spanish pavilion of Brussels” Aim: Corrales and Molezun won the context for the construction of the Spanish Pavilion for the universal exhibition of Brussels in 1958. The pavilion had 3 major considerations: • It had to be detachable; so it can be ensemble in Brussels and later on, take it to ensemble it in Madrid.

• It had to deal with the irregularity of the terrain which had almost 6 meters of difference in certain points.

• The pavilion had to have open spaces like patios, be open enough to allow the installation of commercial stands, and provide environmental comfort.

Solution: Look for inspirations in the protagonist of the problem…. The trees. Embrace the way they adapt to topography.

terraces for exhibitions

auditorium

restaurant

zones

promenade

process

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rock (entire piece)

ARTIST

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crater ( implotion)

rockgrowth (explotion)

Levy’s inspiration comes from nature; his first intention was not to make a rock, but to play with geometry, and the shapes that can be found in the nature; he says that, unconsciously, the mind take us to relate everything with mineral shapes, and that’s how the “Rock” series take place.

Levy explores the concept of the rock widely:

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• The rock as an entire piece • The implosion or the rock: when each side (face) of the rock is pushed to the centre and it forms what the artist calls a Crater.

• The explosion of the rock: when each side or face of the rock is pushed from the centre to the exterior; he calls this shape the Rockgrowth.

ARCHITECT

construction and geometry

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constructive process

The entire pavilion was made of 130 modules in total. The composition of each module was: A main column with a triangular basis.

A central piece to be collate in the top of the column which was divided in 6 parts 6 triangular beams.

Each beam is supported in the top of the main column thanks to piece number 2.

The geometry was a key point: An structural hexagon is made of 6 triangular panels, which at the same time are made of 4 sma- ller ones.

The complete roof structure without panels.

When a triangular shape (4 smaller triangles) is putted in the main structure.

When the final hexagon takes place thanks to geometry.

When more than one module is ensemble next to the other.

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As the inspiration for the Spanish pavilion was taken from the nature, Molezun and Corrales decided to geometrized this shape, that’s how they arrived into the final shape of a hexagon.

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triangle

hexagon

system of growing

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The power of the mind to complete shapes: Levy works also with geometry in his paintings, he tried to show us the power that the mind has to complete geometrical shapes with familiar references. His painting “Two women” show perfectly this point.

unfinish effect

reflecting the context

The relationship with the context: It is important to mention that Levy’s rocks are not putted in a context randomly; on the contrary with his work he tried also to reflect what is around us in a very literal way, It easier to explain this point with the work “Rockgrowth”; although when the sculpture is contemplate we are only looking at one side, It really show us the context: The texture of a near wall, the trees and nature around the rock, and a close by building.

ARCHITECT + ARTIST

presentation

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triangle & shape with faces

promenade

In its own way, both architect and artist work with geometry‌triangles, hexagons, and the power that the sum of a lot of units (triangles, or other polygonal shapes) have to make a lot more complex shapes.

The Spanish pavilion mean to be discover while walking in it, to discover the different heights, the structure, the function and the relationship in between spaces; very much alike, Arik Levy’s sculptures are mean to be discover while walking around them, because not only each face show us a different piece of reality, but also, the sculpture itself, looks very much different en every angle.

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unfinished shape

diferent views in every face

The mind has the power to complete geometrical shapes with more familiar figures.

Different pieces of reality can be taken into the architecture, making it more dynamic, changing with the pass of time at real time.

extruction & intersections creating new spaces In the Spanish pavilion the architects wanted to repeat the shape of the roof in the floor, we abstract from this the concept of “Extruction�. In the same way, we conclude that Levy works also with this idea. Implosion and explosion of rocks are, in their own way, extructions as well.

ARCHITECT + ARTIST

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tension Development of the new idea: We start working with the more basic geometrical shape: The triangle, because the triangle was the starting point of the Spanish Pavilion, and many triangles can be found also in Levy’s sculptures.

Experimenting with this idea we start working with sticks and an elastic band to make the joins in between them.

It was thanks to the use of elastic bands that we realized that the TENSION was helping to hold the pieces together. At the same time if we pull the elastic band an other stick could be accommodate there.

force All the force of the structure is transmited with the triangles to the unique column.

tension The structures withoutfaces transmited the tensions between the edges to the center to the figure.

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tensegrity concepts

new shapes with tension

Although the concept of tensegrity is not new, the approach that our model has it is slightly different. Usually just one tightened thread is used in the whole structure to hold the “falling sticks”, of course gravity is also a variable to be considered. In our model instead of using just one thread we use several elastic bands.

New shapes can be created by controlling the patron of “holding together”. Triangles, squares, rhombus, etc.

ARCHITECT + ARTIST

sticks Sticks of different size with an elastic band holed in the extremes. Each size has to deal with different amount of force and tension.

presentation

order one Three different sizes of sticks putted together in a cross shape.

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order two Tree different sizes of sticks putted together in a rhombus shape.

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tension by extruction With the order one or the order two, the common concept of extruction is achieved by using a bigger stick to keep the two extremes apart. In this point we start experimenting with different ways of ensemble this basic from.

ARCHITECT + ARTIST

presentation

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structure development

combination of structures

Different structures can be created by using a rigid element (sticks), with tension (elastic bands).

Following this simple rules different shapes can be created.

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shapes

lineal combinations

A 3D hexagon can be created using rigid elements tensioned in between them. Six sticks are needed as well as 6 elastic bands.

The hexagon by itself can become the rigid element and can help to hold the chain of sticks and achieve the extruction: our main concept.

ARCHITECT + ARTIST

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final model Hexagons in the extremes + extruded crosses of different sizes.

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ARCHITECT + ARTIST

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Materials: wooden sticks and elastic bands.

scale one

DECORATION 0.6m

0.25m

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Materials: Carbon fiber tubes, steel cables and fabric of different colours, textures and transparency.

scale two

ROOF STRUCTURE 12m

order one: from little to bigger

12m

order two: from bigger to little

ARCHITECT + ARTIST

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Materials for the structure: Steel tubes & steel cables, Materials for the enclosure: carbon fiber in the exterior faces and mirrors in the interior faces of the hexagon.

scale three

PAVILION 20m

5m

Front elevation

Axonometrical view

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Materials for the structure: Steel tubes & steel cables Materials for the path: Wooden planks.

scale four

BRIDGE

40m

150m

40m

40m

Side View

Top View

neira

by santiago cuenca palacios jimena cรกrdenas castro