Project Description: 

Just as a can, made of nothing but flimsy sheet aluminium, gains strength and rigidity through its cylindrical form, the 99 Failures Pavilion explores thinness on the micro and macro scale, showing how digital fabrication strategies can take advantage of a material's inherent properties to achieve strength, form and beauty. This pavilion uses inflated, stainless steel envelopes as components within a surface tensegrity network, in which no component in a direct compressive relationship with another. Taking place over the course of 6 months, the project established and overcame problems of material performance, fabrication, parametric design, assembly, and prototyping

Structure: Freeform Surface Tensegrity Structure

Materials : 
Compressive components : stainless steel plates with 0.5 mm / 0.8 mm / 1.2 mm / 1.5 mm thickness
Tension cables : stainless steel cables in 3 mm diameter
Base ring : stainless steel pipe in 48mm diameter
Foundation : precast concrete blocks
Furniture : painted plywood
Weight : 1.5 t (upper structure in stainless steel), 1 t (concrete foundation)

Design Phase : October 2012 – March 2013
Design development, fabrication & construction : April – November 2013
Completion date : 24 November 2013

99 Failures for One Pavilion - ArchDaily

99 Failures for One Pavilion - DOMUS