KnitCandela

Link: KnitCandela

KnitCandela is an homage to the famous Spanish-Mexican shell builder Félix Candela (1910 - 1997) using innovations developed in the Block Research Group and within the NCCR Digital Fabrication. Assembled at the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) in Mexico City as part of tan exhibition of Zaha Hadid Architects.

The design of KnitCandela is inspired by the fluid forms of the traditional and colourful dress from Mexico. The thin doubly-curved concrete shell is formed by a pre-fabricated knitted formwork, that was digitally fabricated in Zurich and brought to Mexico from Switzerland in two suitcases weighing less than 55 kg. The resulting pavilion has a surface area of almost 50 m2, and in its completed form it weighs in excess of 5 tonnes.

For this project NCCR researchers from Chair for Physical Chemistry of Building Materials and the Block Research Group collaborated with the Computational Design Group of Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHCODE) for the design and Architecture Extrapolated (R-Ex) who managed the execution of the project on site in Mexico City.

Additional information at:

• Block Research Group - KnitCandela
• ZHCODE - Zaha Hadid Architects

Photo: Leo Bieling, Juan PabloAllegre