Typology Mediterranean study and display center

Haifa location. Israel

Area 2000 sqm

The location of the project in the ecological garden and its functional contents inspired me to a figurative structure that adopts the shape and constructive features of the larva. The intermediate state in which the larva is located, between a pupa and a butterfly, gives it a flexible, dynamic and light vertebral shell that challenges the feasibility of such a structure with modern construction technologies.

The proposed structure consists of three independent bodies - two arches, head and tail, which serve functions such as the foyer, lecture and toilet area, and a saddle structure as an intermediary between the two bodies - this is the plant display area.

The northern part of the larva is dynamic so that it allows expansion of the display space and its connection with the ecological garden.

The movement system in the building adheres to the shell, defines the internal spaces and bridges in a system of ramps between the topography differences of three meters. For a membrane shell feel the arches of the structure were wrapped in double airtight sheets connected to an inflation system. The plant display saddle is wrapped in a glass shell to let in sunlight. The choice of these materials created from the outside in a rhythm of a transparent atom between the spaces of the structure.

The profile of the arches was designed in the formal language of the structure in such a way as to obtain a uniform and natural assemblage with changes in size between the connections and other materials. The structures of the arches are separated from the saddle structure and raised slightly from it while creating an overlapping area between them. The separation allows for intrusive ventilation of the building along its entire length and the emission of hot air from it.

It is an observation of nature and the richness that exists in it and the adoption of motifs from it into the architecture of our time.