ABSTRACT
The AIA pavilion in New Orleans was an attempt to synthesize two disparate issues on a tight budget. The first goal was to activate pedestrian traffic in areas otherwise inaccessible or forgotten. The second goal was to develop and test an environmentally friendly material system for a new kind of lightweight structure. The pavilion was developed as a modular system that could be assembled and disassembled during two days to allow for a fast construction process and an almost instantaneous change from a private condition to a public space. The AIA Pavilion was a part of a larger ongoing investigation into new techniques and methods to reintroduce plastics as legitimate building materials. The highly malleable nature of plastic was used to respond to the digitally derived form of the pavilion and its complex geometry and cell variations. Glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate (PETG), a material that is fully recyclable, was used as the sole material in the system.
