Chilean-German architecture practice GUN Architects' latest installation, accompanied by an exhibition in the AA gallery, brings the micro-climate of Chile to the UK. Using tree-like structures and pyramidal fabric ‘stalactites,’ the architects create a unique ecology that is at once natural and material. The architects' description of the installation, after the break...
An extended view of Water Cathedral, the selected project by GUN Arq for the 2011 YaP installation in Santiago, Chile, shot by photographer Cristobal Palma.
The Water Cathedral is a large, horizontal urban nave for public use. The structure is made up of numerous slender, vertical components, which hang or rise like stalactites and stalagmites in a cave, varying in height and concentration. The project incorporates water dripping at different pulses and speeds from these hanging elements, fed by a hydraulic irrigation network. When filled with small amounts of water, the stalactite components act as interfaces out of which water droplets gradually flow and cool visitors below. The stalagmites topography provides elements of shade, along with plants and water that collect under the Water Cathedral’s canopy.
Last week, the MoMA and the PS1 announced HWKN as the winner for the 2012 YAP in NY.
More videos by Cristobal Palma at ArchDaily:
