
4 minute read
Thonet Chair Pavillion
Experience
The TC Pavillion is constructed around the concept of layers from front to back of site. The plot transports the viewer through the site and allows for them to experience lightness of design with the restricted use of walls and the heightened focus on transparency.
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The layer details on the right show how all the horizontal ‘layering’ components of the structure are composed with some form of transparency, focusing on the continuity of space and the flow of the ambient, without posing the individual with heavy elements that would otherwise disrupt the flow of this far-sighted architectural space.




While the constructed space is essential for the creation of the layering of the project, the site planning along with the landscape furthers the audience’s experience. The lightness of the construction is emphasized by the nature surrounding the space, which as the viewers travel through the site, serve not only as a introductory facade, but also as a back-of-site organizational display that furthers the initial effect created at the front. Yet, both are contrasted in hierarchy through density, giving a sense of start and end.

As the viewer moves through the site, they are posed with a total of 9 layers that behave similarly. All of them are composed of wood, except for the wall that poses as an introductory element of the pavillion facade. The effect of the wall leads to an environment with a clear indication of start and end, being closed by the paper-mesh wall at the back of the pavillion. The layers tell a narrative. Constructed out of thin wood columns and elements, most of the elements sustain the lightness that is initially introduced by the first few layers, composed of trees and water. The central theme of calmness and lightness is essentialy enhanced by the the introducing trees that isolate external noise and also bring the lightness of nature into the pavillion’s design, while the entrance and its layers are introduced by the intial body of water that further enhances the sensation of calmness and relaxation. All these emotions source from the initial source of inspiration for the development of the architectural language of the pavillion: the Thonet Chair.

On the left, the front facade is depicte, highlighting the trees that can be seen at the front of the site. Not only that, but the hierarchy of the natural elements can be better observed, as the dense layer of trees at the back of site stand out as a more solid natural wall. The right-sided elevation underneath further augmentates the layer system and the positioning of the pavillion in relationship to the rest of the site and the landscape architecture.




Structure

The plan of the pavillion highlights the characteristic of translucency of the project. The repeating squares act as a permeable structure that is enclosed on its sides by heavy and thick walls that adorn the space while also highlighting the progression of the pavillion and its displacement.

Process

Thonet N.14 - (Source: “Michael Thonet - the Architect London” Phillips, www.phillips.com/detail/michael-thonet/UK050214/306.)

The Thonet N.14 was the source of inspiration for the creation of this pavillion. Serving as a key figure for the elemental choices, the chair was a revolutionary design of it’s time that used unique technology and design features. The chair at a certain point was aclaimed by Le Corbusier as the best chair to ever exist. At its core, the lightness of the material and design highlights the practicality of the chair, furthered by the curved innovative solid wood composition, which attaches a design of modernity to a practical and fast-production product. These concepts are all translated into the pavillion. The lightness of the design is communicated by the permeable layered structure. The practicality of simple dislocation amongst the pavillion, and finally, a simple structure that communicates modernity and the experience of calmness that the Thonet “Bistro” Chair has.


The process of formation of the architectural language sourced from a frontal element of design that served as a path guide. With continuous expansion of the structure, the language that was initially produced as a side element becomes the central element of repetition across the architectural space. Now the secondary elements become the walls and the lightness of the environment is created by the repeated use of these repeating translucent structures.