B+U designs 'Pavilion 1800' for Mextropoli Festival

'Pavilion 1800' opens for the duration of Mextropoli Architecture event

March 15th, 2018

MEXTRÓPOLI is an annual four-day festival celebrating Mexico City’s architecture and urban fabric, and the 2018 edition was held between March 15–20. It is Latin America’s only forum aimed to facilitate the generation and exchange of knowledge focused on reimagining the built environment. More than 52,000 attendees included students, citizens, professionals, tourists, public servants, artists, and other experts.

The festival positions Mexico City as a diverse setting that encourages designers to be both creative and critical. MEXTRÓPOLI includes conferences, workshops, and outdoor exhibitions and pavilions.

This year, B+U designed a pavilion which measured approximately 22 feet tall by 40 feet long, comprised a structure formed with materials that are typically concealed—#3 and #4 rebar painted black—set atop an obsidian base.

The pavilion was designed in multiple units that were prefabricated and then transported and assembled onsite. Column trusses featured cross-braced rebar members anchored by steel base plates. Above, truss beams integrated with secondary elements, including structural gray shades and nonstructural blue shades. Custom connectors accommodated a variety of intersections between the many segments of rebar.