The HY-Bol Pavilion, designed and built in the summer of 2014 by students of the Spitzer school of Architecture at City College New York, was the culmination of a series of courses devoted to the expression of complex geometric curvature. Contemporary architecture theory has witnessed an new debate on how topology and smooth surface curvature should either embrace or dismiss the historic concepts of tectonics in architecture, a term which has re-appeared sporadically and influentially throughout Architectural History. As a generic umbrella for the term, all of the readings of the word in question seem to share the idea that the tectonic represents an ineffable quality of visual synergy between the needs of construction and structure with the harmonious visualization and pronunciation of those needs.

"Architecture is Building-plus-value." This equation is not simply the addition of unrelated elements... The identity named by this equation - the "is," or "equals" - is enabled by the discursive axiology of tectonics. Tectonics expresses a uniquely architectural sense of necessity, binding together commodity, firmness, and delight ( or economy, strength and beauty; or affect, effect, and reflection ). While architects share a competent interest in structure or aesthetics with other professionals, the intelligence expressed in tectonics cannot be found outside the discipline."                        

Wes Jones, "Can Tectonics Grasp Smoothness" in Log Vol. 30, Winter 2014

Is the subdivision of double curvature into smaller printable panels a tectonic expression or merely a construction issue? Do the compressive structure lines within a developable surface that hold its shape inform a buildings tectonic or is this made irrelevant when scaling a paper model to the size of a building with manifest panels? Is the physical construction of the lines of the digital U+V grid a tectonic expression by means of the re-production of the virtual domain in which the geometry was created? Or as in the vaults of the gothic narthex, is the visualization of forces directed to the ground that suspend complex surfaces in the air the true tectonic expression? The challenge of the design of the pavilion served as a vessel to challenge students to examine these current paradigmatic constructional and design questions on a real project.\

The bench and canopy pavilion unfolded from a series of student studies of the varying types of non-developable geometry with the chosen design emerging from the group dedicated to negative Gaussian curvature and more specifically hyperbolic geometry. Commonly referred to as saddle surfaces, hyperbolic surface geometry has been utilized in the form of several architect's including the roof's of Felix Candela's Bacardi Factory, Miguel Fisac's Madrid Pagoda, and the Phipps Pavilion by Corbusier + Xenakis. The design research targeted the specific type of hyperbolic geometry, the Hyperbola of Revolution, for its ability to expand outward as it grows in the vertical direction from the inner hemisphere to form canopy. Three tangential elliptical hyperbolas were nested together, each with a dedicated function, one for the canopy, one for the seating surface and one for a raised display surface. The nesting of the tangential geometry allows for a smooth transition from one surface to another creating a form that offers a sense of oscillation and gyration despite its centrality.

The radial egg-crate structure was chosen to serve as both a series of display cubbies for books and projects as well as for the diaphanous quality it adds to the geometry in the oblique view. Simultaneously the egg-crate  reinforce the modular assembly process. 

The pieces of the pavilion were prepared using an algorithmic breakdown of geometry in grasshopper to produce a series of contour cut files for school's CNC 3 axis Mill. 140 pieces of three typologies were cut from 20 sheets of 4x8 Birch Plywood for the assembly of the pavilion. The 20 vertical ribs are broken into 10 structural bays, that are pre-assembled and can be carried to the site in question and then re-deployed. The pavilion, features a clever system of interlocking joinery, which allows for the quick modular assembly and dis-assembly able to be reconnected with the joints and mechanical fasteners. The seating and display surfaces feature a locking joint system, with a bezier curve overlap that allows for quick deployment, while the upper pieces utilize a half-lap geometry from a CNC pocket cut.

The project celebrated by the students and faculty, was photographed in front of the School of Architecture and is currently on display on the third floor of the Spitzer School of Architecture's Atrium.

PROJECT CREDITS
Jonathan A. Scelsa, Adjunct Assistant Professor, OP-AL
Students: Lenny Chen, Roman Hatnyanskyy, Eliza Tan, Hector Santacruz, Dorota Kowalska, Ksneiya Linov, Nick Napoli, and Shola Owolewa
Special Thanks to: Dean George Ranalli + Chair Gordon Gebert