The Making of Stay Cool Pavilion
เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 years ago
Stay Cool Pavilion
By Nikken Sekkei Thailand (Lighting Designed by NULTY)
“We combined the original material with the already-prototyped BIOSKIN ceramic tube technology; In other words, ceramic tubes were replaced with clay bricks, which is considered an adaptation to suit geography, climate, and living conditions in Thailand, both in terms of design and utilization.”
Could you please introduce the idea behind the project for Bangkok Design Week 2021?
We regard “Resurgence” as the restoration — or coming back — of things amid the global warming crisis, in particular Heat Island Effect that has been around for a long time yet to be solved. That’s why we chose this issue as the initiative of the project, looking for new possibilities as to what tools can help alleviate the heat island effect through the experimental selection of the already existing materials in the area. It might be a small, humble starting point of the change in ways of thinking or perspectives on things or products that already exist around us.
Besides, the “Stay Cool Pavilion” draws inspiration from one of our many projects that have already happened — that is, the NFB Osaki Building (Sony City Osaki) in Tokyo, Japan. The façade of the building incorporates a system of ceramic tubes that allows rainwater to be circulated inside using power generated by solar panels. The pipes are made to be quite porous so that the rainwater, when flowing through them, evaporates off the surface of façade louvers, causing their temperatures to drop and returning moisture to the atmosphere and natural water cycle, which culminates in a small building in the city contributing to the alleviation of the surrounding heat island effect. With this in mind, we applied the concept to the upcoming event and pavilion, which helped us figure out the best solutions to the existing problems and create new possibilities in terms of utilization and experiences for the audiences.
Where did you draw your inspiration from?
The first is the heat island effect. Heat is something Thai people are well familiar with. Having seen this technology, we started looking for a potential alternative local material that has long been used in building constructions in Thailand since ancient times, especially in the Charoenkrung district. After a string of trial-and-error experiments, it was found that terracotta bricks met most of the requirements — that’s why they are widely used as a structural part of the historic buildings around the neighborhood. We then found a way to recontextualize the concept, incorporating the new system in another way than the original, to match and communicate with the area more.
In summary, we combined the original material with the already-prototyped BIOSKIN ceramic tube technology; In other words, ceramic tubes were replaced with clay bricks, which is considered an adaptation to suit the geography, climate, and living conditions of Thailand in terms of design, utilization, and sustainability.
Could you please explain your workflow, from choosing the location and selecting materials to installing the finished artwork? What is special about the location and materials? What are the challenges in the installation of the work?
It was not easy because we started the experiment using terracotta tile, which, in many circumstances, did not perform that much of the structural, load-bearing functions, not to mention the fact that it was a limited material in terms of availability — that is, there were not as many tiles out there in the market to be purchased as needed, before settling for “terracotta brick” we used in making the pavilion, given its being considered a building material locally available in the country that could be reused and had properties similar to those of BIOSKIN ceramic pipe. It was also found that terracotta brick had been long and widely used in building constructions in Thailand since ancient times, and was commonly found used not only in the Charoenkrung district but also throughout Thailand.
Despite our having settled for terracotta brick as the main material, there, nevertheless, was a string of trial-and-error experiments with a wide variety of bricks conducted along the way. We tried contacting local clay brick manufacturers in the district to sort out the problem concerning the availability of terracotta brick only to find there were limitations, from forming molds that did not meet size requirements, to insufficient manufacturing capacity. We then proceeded to contact other clay brick manufacturers that could provide sufficient materials, with the focus still being placed on domestic manufacturers as we wanted to support local manufacturers and materials as much as possible. In addition, in the early stage, we also experimented with bricks with lower firing temperatures, which were considered defective materials in terms of chemical reactions as the finished products were more porous and hold more water than usual, to make benefits out of the QC failed products. When we first contacted the manufacturers, we found that most of them would discard all these unqualified bricks or use them for landfilling. There was research into whether such materials could really be reused as it would help add value to the waste materials, and, if we chose the right way to use the materials, they might also allow for evaporation, helping regulate the temperatures and reducing the heat inside the building, given their being able to absorb water to some extent despite not being as porous as BIOSKIN ceramic pipes. On top of that, it would help restore the economy of the clay brick manufacturing communities in a way.
In the design of the pavilion’s interior, we paid meticulous attention to even the smallest, seemingly meaningless points; In the early phase, there was an idea of its having one entry and exit point that was later discarded due to the consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic, which became one of the design conditions. To create a system that would allow for smooth visitor traffic flows, the design where entry and exit were separated was chosen. Apart from that, as for safety reasons, the pavilion was designed to be compact, open-aired, and well-ventilated, and there would be a limit to the number of visitors, which would contribute to reducing the risk of infections.
Could you please summarize the specialty of this project?
Firstly, it is in line with the concept of this year’s Bangkok Design Week. We try to communicate about BIOSKIN technology through the already existing local material — that is, clay brick, which will allow visitors to more or less experience how this technology can give visitors comfortable feelings through the pavilion. However, we are still not quite sure how much the outcomes would turn out according to the models that have proven to be working.
Secondly, as already mentioned above, the technology will, hopefully, inspire everyone to be more concerned about the heat island effect and start looking for something at their fingertips to utilize them to maximum benefits to more or less reduce the heat island effect problems in the future.
What do you expect audiences to take away from experiencing the work?
The aim of “Stay Cool Pavilion” is to communicate and represent the approach to the design and the actual project through changing the perspectives on materials that have been long and widely used in the locality from the past to the present. With its building method and layout having been revamped to allow for greater flexibility and variation of use, this pavilion will serve as a public space that gives visitors comfortable air by giving moisture to the bricks and returning moisture to the atmosphere.
We also expect that visitors will be able to perceive our approach through the design of the pavilion. What’s important is that visitors can understand our approach and apply it to further develop things around them as what we communicate is that we utilize materials commonly found around us, combining them with technology, which means visitors can also look for materials commonly found around them to utilize them to maximum benefits.
