BIO(da)TA - a Thematic Pavilion for the Yeosu Expo 2012 'The Living Ocean and Coast'

Yesterday, Bustler reported about the AIA Seattle 2009 Honor Awards that were presented to Washington State’s most outstanding architects and design teams earlier this week.

One of the award winners that received the Citation Award in the ‘Envisioned’ category was a team comprised of Seattle-based firms zero plus and STAVE for their proposal for a thematic pavilion for the Expo 2012 in Yeosu, Korea.

Here’s a project description from zero plus and STAVE:

The theme of the Expo 2012 Yeosu was selected to raise people’s awareness about the values and the critical environmental problems of oceans; and to suggest a new ocean vision for future generations.

BIO(da)TA is an emergent, immersive and environmentally-integrated Thematic Pavilion for Yeosu Expo 2012. Our proposal amplifies the experience of the Thematic Pavilion by creating an architectural system of dispersal which allows visitors and researchers direct interaction with the ocean and coastal environment.  This project is a living and adaptive building set into and on the water, adjusting daily with the tidal ebb and flow. 

Emergence: This proposal emerges from the conditions of the ocean, the tides, the geologic strata and the atmosphere. It is partially fixed in proximity to the breakwater, with arms that flow in and out with the tidal movement.

Immersion: Environmental immersion is vital for a visceral, sensory understanding of the oceans, as well as the collection of data and physical sampling, testing and evaluation for research.

Environmental Integration: BIO(da)TA takes a holistic and systematic approach, integrating direct experience, exhibits, research, bioremediation, economic development and adaptive reuse into a cohesive whole. As an example of living building technology and its expressive potential, this proposal uses the elements of sun, wind, rain, water collection and tidal movement in a fully integrated system of engineering. The building becomes organism, and the participants are a part of that life form.

“We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree; but the whole, of which these are the shining parts, is the soul.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

Credits:

Design Team:
Joshua Brevoort, 0-Plus
Ian Campbell, 0-Plus
Kai Chiu, Studio KC, Exhibits
Lisa Chun, 0-Plus
Cameron Hall, STAVE
Dan Lenander, Metastudio

Collaborators:
Peter Alspach, PE, Mechanical Engineer, Arup
Hans Erik Blomgren, PE, Structural Engineer, Arup
Cormac Deavy, PE, Arup Seattle (Engineering Team Leader)
Brian Glover, PE, Structural Engineer, Arup

Charles (“Si’) Simenstad, PhD, Research Professor
University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences

Critics:
Wyn Bielaska, John Grade, Annie Han, Rob Hutchison, Daniel Mihalyo, Ana Pinto da Silva

Images: zero plus / STAVE