Pabellón Respira, Mexico City, 2017
Proposal for temporary pavilion at Alameda Central
For; Mextropoli Architecture Festival 2017
Collaborators: Juan Pablo Ochoa, Paulina SH
Pabellón Respira is a proposal for a temporary pavilion in the centre of Mexico City, seeking to bring a space to reflect on and take action against air pollution. It is a proposal that encourages contemplation, socialisation and rest of passersby of Mexico City's busy centre, placing itself as a forum for the reflection of environmental and social issues. Air quality in Mexico City is getting worst by the day because of excess of car use and the particular geography that the city has. Residents of the city are aware of this topic that is threatening to their health, yet there is no accsesible information about which are the levels of toxics no where to be seen in public space.
Visualization of Pabellon Respira within the Alameda context, Mexico City. Illustration by Paulina SH, Mariana Martinez, Juan Pablo Ochoa
The project is an opportunity to detonate the use of public space by inviting to take a breather time within the city, and receive information in various ways. The dimensions and materials create a language of aesthetic connection with the environment: the central avenue (the oldest lung in the metropolis), adjoining buildings and neighboring avenues. On the other hand, the use of scaffolding allows the pavilion to be modulated to adapt to other places later, and different scales if necessary.
The structure of the pavilion is a landscape of multi-level surfaces made up of scaffolding and tensioned nets, while the roof is a light mesh that allows respiration, sustained by weather balloons. Sketch by Mariana Martínez, Paulina SH, Juan Pablo Ochoa
Tensed meshes into scaffolding structures delimit a landscape for different programmes to happen within. Illustration by Mariana Martinez, Paulina SH and Juan Pablo Ochoa
This pavilion, designed to occupy the public space at Alameda Square, visualizes the levels of toxicity in the air to create awareness to passerbyers. Air balloons change colour as toxicity levers rise and fall, while suspending a lightweight structure. Meshes are elevated by meteorological balloons equipped with airborne impurity meters: public “traffic lights” that report the percentage of pollution in the area by changing color. The intention is to provide real-time data to the users of the pavilion to raise awareness about this issue.
Weather balloons with air quality sensors change colour, as an air quality stop-light. Red is highest toxicity levels, green is good air quality. This way, people can have a real-time visualisation of what kind of air they are breathing that day. Illustration by Mariana Martinez, Paulina SH and Juan Pablo Ochoa
The Pabellon Respira is a proposal that encourages contemplation, socialization and rest of passersby in Mexico City, placing itself as a forum for the reflection of environmental and social issues. Illustration by Mariana Martinez, Paulina SH and Juan Pablo Ochoa
This project was presented for Mextropoli 2017 as part of an Open Call for Temporary Pavilions.
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