28/05/2018 – A participatory space as a manifestation of freedom: this is the idea behind the installation Weaving Architecture. The project by Miralles Tagliabue EMBT shows how manual techniques, such as weaving, can humanize public spaces.
The structure presented in Venice is composed of different elements woven together on two levels. The upper level is built with American red oak modules, while the lower level is made with stainless-steel modules. Both are interlaced with fiberglass in different colors, softening the visual effect and blurring the boundaries created by the structure.
Weaving Architecture continues a line of research that Benedetta Tagliabue and EMBT have been developing for years, beginning with the Spanish Pavilion at Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
That research now continues in Clichy-sous-Bois and Montfermeil, on the outskirts of Paris, with the project for a future metro station, part of the Grand Paris Express, together with a market and the redevelopment of the surrounding urban space. The project uses woven fiber as a material that is fragile in appearance yet resistant to time and weather.
Weaving Architecture was presented at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale. Its concept works with weaving at several scales: the metro connects territories, public space links the activities of local people, and the canopy structure is interlaced with fiberglass. The canopy offers protection and shade, creating a place for different activities. Its colorful character reflects the spirit of Clichy-sous-Bois and Montfermeil, recalling both African textile patterns and nocturnal graffiti, an art form that belongs to the inhabitants. This architecture, like the infrastructure that connects the territory, becomes a statement about architecture’s social role.
Source: press release of the AHEC American Hardwood Export Council
Peter Dark
miranda_shida
Theresa V. Adams
Anna Lohan
