Soft Matter

The pavilion was built for the 2017 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season as part of an outdoor extension of the Lingang exhibition. Today, the natural geological constraints of sites are often altered and manipulated by modern technology, and Lingang New City is a prime example. Standing on the largest hydraulic fill reclamation in history, one might find it difficult to distinguish whether the land is liquid or solid, natural or artificial. Inspired by this massive act of land filling, we became fascinated by the ambiguity of the material states, as well as the unpredictability and mysteriousness of this unprecedented event. This “accidental nature” ultimately became the starting point for the pavilion’s design. The pavilion is part of the outdoor extension of the Lingang exhibition. We chose the most basic architectural form – a canopy supported by columns. The canopy employs polyurethane foam, a building material that is typically hidden in architecture. The foam is sprayed onto both sides of a pre-stressed nylon net to create a lightweight, shell-like structure. Rather than pursuing a designed form, the canopy’s extreme span and deformation are shaped by the dimensions and positioning of the supporting steel columns. The combination of perception and analog calculations resulted in a design that resembles “soft matter,” and this kind of vague precision creates a sensuous presence for the public.