‘Vinylising’ Barcelona Pavilion by Eugeni and Anna Bach

Arch2O.com
Arch2O.com - Architecture & Design Magazine

Barcelona Pavilion, which was designed by Mies van der Rohe, is getting new white walls by architects Eugeni and Anna Bach. The marble walls of the iconic pavilion are being completely covered with white vinyl panels. The goal of the Spanish designers is to change the distinct steel, marble and glass features of the pavilion within seven days to make it look like a model rather than a building.

“This simple act turns the pavilion into a 1:1 scale mock-up, a representation of itself that opens the door to multiple interpretations about aspects like the value of the original, the role of the white surface as an image of modernity, and the importance of materiality in the perception of space,” the architects commented.

Photography: Adrià Goula

Dubbing their work at the Barcelona Pavilion ‘Mies Missing Materiality’, the pair presents this project as the newest of several temporary installations held at the pavilion, which Mies van der Rohe for Barcelona Exposition (1929).

Photography: Adrià Goula

In 2009, Ai Weiwei, the Chinese activist and sculptor, has filled the pavilion’s ponds with milk and coffee. In 2013, Andres Jaque, an architect from Spain, filled the pavilion with items from the basement.

This year’s alterations by Eugeni and Anna Bach are considered the most drastic so far. The project aims to contemplate the historic identity of the structure, apart from the lavish materials which were used to construct it about a century ago.

Photography: Adrià Goula

“To provide the pavilion in Barcelona with that homogenizing whiteness means to endow it with one of the defining features of modern historiography,” they said. “Yet at the same time, it also involves stripping the pavilion of its materiality and its unique characteristics – specifically the one that erected it as an icon of the modern movement.”

“The installation turns this paradox into an experience. It helps visitors to consider these ideas and much more through their own experience in a pavilion that will lose all trace of its materiality for a few days to assume all its representative potential.”

Photography: Adrià Goula

The modifications are due to finish this week and later on a debate will be held by the Spanish architects in addition to Carlos Quintáns and Maria Langarita. The temporary white screens will be torn down on November 27, 2017, reestablishing the building’s authentic persona.

Photography: Adrià Goula

The Barcelona-based architects, Eugeni and Anna Bach, have worked on several previous projects like a dwelling extension made of skeletal framework in addition to a flat having a desk dangling from the ceiling.

The post ‘Vinylising’ Barcelona Pavilion by Eugeni and Anna Bach appeared first on Arch2O.com.

https://www.arch2o.com/barcelona-pavilion-vilylised/ November 22, 2017 at 11:40AM https://www.arch2o.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Arch2O-BarcelonaPavilion-vinylised-04-1-750x400.jpg