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EDGARDO RIVERA

EDGARDO RIVERA

Chicago, IL, US

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THE RAINWATER PAVILION

This project consisted of designing the Aquatics Center for the 2016 Olympics in Chicago.  The given site was Northerly Island located southeast of Millennium Park and east of Soldier Field. 
The proposal needed to be a spectacle itself, in addition of having a meaning and function after the Olympics.  One of the requirements was to take in consideration that from seventeen thousand seats for the spectators, eight thousand are temporary so they can be remove after the events. 
The concept was to create an open space, a sort of pavilion, that offers 360º views of the city of Chicago and Lake Michigan.  The other big idea for the project was to use rainwater in my advantage and design the site to filter and collect the rainwater throw dunes and swells.
After studying diverse patterns, I chose the muscle pattern for its complexity and beauty.
This pattern gave me the flexibility the pavilion needed to reshape and design Northerly Island into its new use and meaning, a rainwater filtering system.  The great thing about the pattern is that the pattern itself suggests the high and low points of the structure.

 
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Status: School Project
Location: Chicago, IL, US
My Role: DESIGNER