Zaragoza, Spain

Digital Water Pavilion

www.digitalwaterpavilion.com

carlorattiassociati - Walter Nicolino & Carlo Ratti

Concept

The Digital Water Pavilion should reveal an experience of Zaragoza, both for its present condition and for its future.

The city is undergoing a period of sustained urban growth, with the concurrent presence of two significant projects – the Expo 2008 and La Milla Digital. Both of them will shape the city in the coming decades, and redefine its image in the world.

The Expos theme is Water and Sustainable Development; La Milla Digital focuses on the knowledge economy and seeks to achieve a successful integration of digital and information technologies in the urban environment.

A connection between the two projects can be seen in the use of interactive Digital Water, as proposed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Digital Water can be described as a wall made with a digitally-controlled flow of water. It would be possible to display writings and patterns on it, as well as connecting sensors to create an interactive digital-physical environment.

By its nature, digital water seems an ideal medium to showcase Zaragoza of the future. We plan to use it extensively in the new pavilion, as one of the main elements.

Landscape

The pavilion is conceived as part of the Paseo del Agua, a long landscaped axis running from the Delicias Station to the Expo. The Paseo del Agua is a wet and responsive pathway that runs on two levels, ground and roof. The change in height corresponds to our Pavilion; its wet roof can be seen as an extension of the Paseo. Our Pavilions moveable structure allows it to relate to the ground level, the roof level and all levels between.

Components

The Pavilion consists of four main components: two boxes – a 12 m2 tourist information center and a 30 m2 café with upstairs terrace; a wet roof covering the remaining 330 m2; and several tables and benches.

The tourist information center and the café work as asymmetrical poles, both structurally (they help stabilize the roof) and conceptually.

The tourist information centers upper level is illuminated and can be seen from far away. The cafés upper level hosts a terrace with outdoor seating, where visitors may enjoy the view of the surrounding landscape (from Ferraters Delicias Station to Zaha Hadids Pabellon Puente and the Ebro river). The visual axis as perceived from the Pavilion terrace reflects its goal – to serve as a connector between La Milla Digital and the Expo.

Communication

The Pavilion is primarily a showcase for the future of Zaragoza.

Traditional informational materials will be provided at the tourist information center, a 30 m2 glass box staffed by up to six people.

Additional information will be available throughout the building, using interactive screens, projected videos, and ultimately text and lettering displayed on the Digital Water wall.

The bar is another medium of information. Here, visitors can learn more about Zaragoza through a variety of means, including tablecloths and changeable walls. The presence of the café will be important in the future, as it will help keep the building alive well after the Expo is over. After September 2008 the Expos Puerta Sur will become a park, which would effectively be complemented by the café.

In general the Pavilion will sustain the parks use and feature exhibitions about Zaragoza and La Milla Digital.

Reconfigurability

The Pavilion should serve as a showcase for the Zaragoza of the future. We thought of a responsive environment to communicate the beauty and purity of water and the interactive potential of digital technologies.

The presence of water walls and digital technology allow the building to be reshaped. Water walls along the perimeter and additional internal ones create spaces that are reconfigurable through time. Furthermore, the roof is moveable thanks to hydraulic pistons that can raise and lower it. The result is a wide array of spatial configurations; the building can adapt according to visitor flow, time of day, weather conditions, or program needs.

Here are a few examples. Full access to the tourist information center could be provided by switching off all water partitions around it, while a new water curtain could be displayed around the bar making it a more intimate space. In a different situation an open space could be created in the middle of the building, leaving the two boxes enclosed and acting independently. Finally, in the event of strong winds, the entire roof could be lowered to 3 meters in order to minimize splashing from the water curtain.

One could also describe the structure as a switch on-off. When the roof is at ground level the building disappears and offers just a minimal space of 50 m2; when the building is open and the roof is at its highest point (4.5

meters), all 400 m2 can be used.

Fluidity

Much has been written in recent years about the concept of fluidity in architecture and how fluid forms have become possible thanks to the use of digital technologies. However, most forms that look fluid are then built in concrete or steel, in a fixed configuration. Our Pavilion seeks to explore the boundaries of fluid architecture by making a building that literally is fluid. Apart from the tourist information center and the café, which occupy a minimal amount of space, the rest of the Pavilion is adaptable, transient space, which responds to the changing patterns of use.

The structure does not have any superfluous elements. It has been reduced to its bare minimum: two boxes and a few benches and tables. This minimalist configuration can be used under all partition and roof positions.

Europaconcorsi Beta

Digital Water Pavilion