SPANISH PAVILION, EXPO 2005 .NAGOYA, JAPAN .FOREIGN ...

SPANISH PAVILION, EXPO 2005
.NAGOYA, JAPAN .FOREIGN OFFICE ARCHITECTS
INTRODUCTION
This pavilion was created to represent Spain in the Universal Expo of the year 2005 in Aichi, Japan,
and tackles the crucial subject of sustainable development through construction tradition, typical of
the Spanish culture. Expressing this subject through architecture, the architects have tried to link the
Spanish historical legacy with a vision of the future, identifying the most representative architectural
elements of this culture of synthesis and playing with them in the pavilion’s design. The elements chose
constitute a range of spatial organizations: patios, churches and chapels, structural elements (arches and
vaults), and surrounding and decorative elements (lattices and traceries).

FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION
The pavilion is organized around a large
central space wich connects seven different
areas that house exhibitions. The movement
between the central space and the secondary
theme chapels is not lineally structured,
but permits the public to go into and out of
the different exhibitions without following a
pre-established sequential order.
This spatial sequence is reminiscent of the
one in catherdral, between the nave and
the chapels, or between the cloister and
its colonnade. Every chapel is built as a
vaulted bubble, trying to create spaces that
are halfway between a vaulted traditional
structure and a contemporary spherical
space. Here, ornate Gothic vaults, Islamic
domes and faceted vaults are reinterpreted
as more freeform structures.

MATERIALS AND BUILDING CONSTRUCTION
A kind of latice has been designed consisting of six differnet pieces, based on an orthagonal grid, and
encoded with a color. The blocks are made of glazed ceramic, a customary technique common on
the Mediterranean Spanish coast, but also in traditional Japanese ceramics. The idea of creating a
ceramic facade symbolizes the spanish approach to Japan. Recovery of the traditional ceramic lattice
from Meditteranean architecture in order to acheive traditional spaces and shadow in the building
perimter help in regulating the solar gains and spread of thermal load over the pavilion.

Plan
BUILDING ANALYSIS
The selected area of the building that I
will be analyzing includes a section of
the tile latice wall and portion of the the
plan illustrating the faceted vaults of
the first and second floor.
Elevation
Section