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Casalgrande Padana dresses up Shitang
Casalgrande, Italy – With less than 3 months to go until the opening of Expo 2015, the
Shitang pavilion of Chinese property mogul Vanke has finally taken shape. The building
stages that followed the allotment-delivery ceremony included the foundations and the
spectacular installation, with a crane, of each offsite prefabricated piece of the skeleton
of the pavilion. These special calendered steel beams have been progressively bolted
together to mould the intricate parametric geometry designed by Daniel Libeskind, the
famous architect who is the author of the project.
After completing the skeleton and installing the bracing steel rods, the corrugated
steel horizontal beams were quickly fitted in, and the insulating core of the casing, made
up of mineral wood fibre panels, was quickly secured in place. Finally it was all covered
in a layer of shotcrete on top of a special backing.
The unusual construction will soon be ready for the installation of a special metal
The Fractile slabs developed for the Vanke
pavilion at Expo 2015.
underlayer, which the ceramic coating will be anchored to. The installation system has been designed to emphasise the disruption
of the traditional coplanar surfaces through a partial juxtaposition of the ceramic features. The spectacular facing consists of threedimensional
stoneware slabs glazed in a quaint lacquered red. The dye is a special colouring that has been specifically formulated
and developed for this project by Casalgrande Padana’s colorimetric laboratory.
The exclusive ceramic material used in the Vanke pavilion is from the new Fractile range, designed by Libeskind himself. A
creative experience that naturally follows on the process of research that the famous architect and Casalgrande Padana started in
2013 with the Pinnacle, an installation created for the Cersaie – Bologna Water Design Week in the 17th Century Cortile del Priore
dell’ex Maternità, entirely covered in these innovative three-dimensional ceramic slabs.
In the wake of such experiment, the Fractile slabs developed for the Vanke pavilion at Expo 2015 have an outstanding dynamic
three-dimensional pattern emphasised by a vibrant metallic surface, a unit that can open up new prospects and define innovative
expressive languages in the design of ceramic facings.
Made in a 60x120 size and then cut into two separate 60x60 units, the Fractile slabs are the result of a sophisticated industrial
process, which includes glazing and baking at 1250°C, using carefully selected blends of clay, quarts and feldspar, and oxide-rich
metallic glazes that give the ceramic surface a unique, dynamic shot effect. All this, while offering excellent technical and performance
standards in terms of endurance, strength and quality.
The Shitang pavilion of Chinese property mogul Vanke has finally taken shape.
OMA opens new office in Dubai
Dubai, UAE – The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) has opened a Dubai office to design and oversee projects in the MEA
region. Together with headquarters in Rotterdam and offices in New York, Hong Kong, Beijing and Doha, OMA Dubai will strengthen
the practice’s presence in the Middle East, and also provide a connection point for future work in Africa and India. The office is
located in Al Warsan Tower in TECOM.
OMA Dubai has a staff of approximately 20 architects, urban planners and researchers, and is headed by partner Iyad Alsaka, who
will continue to manage OMA’s Doha Office. Alsaka joined OMA in 2007, and led the design on Dubai Waterfront City masterplan.
He is currently overseeing several projects in Doha, including the Qatar National Library, the Qatar Foundation Headquarters, and
a masterplan for the Hamad International Airport.
34 Southeast Asia Building MAY-JUNE 2015