Synthesis Design + Architecture (SDA) won the Switch to Pure Volvo competition to design a rapidly deployable pavilion to showcase Volvo's new plug-in electric hybrid, the V60.
The competition called for an innovative and original design for a temporary pavilion that expressed a "strong and creative identity" to showcase the car at fairs and open air presentations in Italian squares. SDA's response was to use the car's design as a flexible and sustainable vehicle as the basis to reimagine the typical trade show pavilion.
SDA's design integrates structure, form, and performance by utilizing a continuous organic form composed of HDPE mesh fabric with integrated photovoltaic panels tensioned over carbon fiber rods. The digitally designed contours of the mesh fabric are what bend the rods into their curvy forms - taking a shape of "an elegantly diaphanous orchid."
"This competition presented us with a unique challenge as architects," said SDA principal and founder, Alvin Huang.
"It addressed issues we are constantly working on and offered the potential to address sustainability as something much broader that can also encompass issues of identity, contemporary culture, materiality, permanence, and personal mobility."