Pillars of Dreams_ 필라스 오브 드림스

초박형 알루미늄 경량 구조물…

구름의 군집을 형상화한 퍼블릭 아고라로 작용, 호기심과 상호 작용성을 북돋아주는 파빌리온형 휴식 공간

미국 남동부 대서양 연안에 있는 노스캐롤라이나 주의 상공업도시 샬럿에 소재한 발레리 씨 우다드센터 광장에 구름 모양의 독특한 구조물이 들어섰다. ‘꿈의 기둥’이라 불리는 파빌리온은 초박형 알루미늄으로 마감된 경량 구조이다.

한적한 공원에 자리 잡은 구조물은 마치 구름이 모여 있는 모습을 형상화한 것으로 방문객과 직원을 위한 퍼블릭 아고라로 작용한다. 파빌리온을 떠받치고 있는 것은 속이 빈 9개의 기둥이며, 상부로 자연스럽게 이어지면서 볼륨감 있는 이중 커브 캐노피 구조의 오버 헤드를 형성한다. 주차장에서 건물의 주출입구로 이동하는 과정에서 2개로 나있는 보행로 한 가운데 턱하니 버티고 있는 구조물은 다가가 안고 싶을 만큼 매혹적인 충동을 자아낸다.

공중에서 파빌리온을 바라보면 구체의 오밀조밀한 집합체는 커다란 풍선을 한 아름 품고 있는 형상으로 그 자체로 호기심과 묘한 상호 작용성을 불러 일으켜 준다. 구조물 하부에서 상부를 올려다보면 다공질의 표면을 통해 햇빛의 강도가 적절히 걸러진다. 그 틈새로 들어오는 신비로운 빛과 그림자의 오묘한 환영은 기둥의 곡률 변화에 따라 절묘하게 엮이고, 빛의 흐름을 내부 공간과 지표면으로 살포시 내려앉게 만든다. 구조물의 표면은 색채가 점차 변화하는 효과인 그러데이션 효과를 반영하여 은은하게 빛을 발한다. 이처럼 필라스 오브 드림스 작업은 건축가 MARC FORNES/ THEVERYMANY의 독창적인 설치 작업으로 도시 광장을 빛내는 강렬한 휴식 공간으로 다가온다.

송예린·이영호 기자

Design & Build_ MARC FORNES/ THEVERYMANY

Photos by NAARO

An ebullient structure seems to hover in the plaza of the newly renovated Valerie C. Woodard Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Pillars of Dreams ​is an icon to be experienced. The cloud-like pavilion is anchored to the ground on nine legs, which are part of the continuous aluminum surface that makes up the double-curving canopy overhead. These open pillars resolve into a field of clustered seating, establishing a public agora for visitors and employees.

Along the path from parking to the main entrance, the pavilion accommodates friendly interaction as well as quiet moments for reflection. The airy structure offers relief from the sun but also casts dynamic light through its porous surface. The atmosphere within, full of color and dappled light, inspires curiosity, collegiality, and a renewed spirit of place.

Building on the aggregation of spheres across the studio’s prototypical structures (Double Agent White, Situation Room, a pop-up for Louis Vuitton), Pillars of Dreams ​thrusts these volumes into the air. At 26 feet overhead, they appear to float like balloons. But it’s not helium that keeps them afloat, nor any primary or secondary structure. The skin that stretches over the balloon-like aggregate is also self-supporting. The intricate patterning of the two-layer, 3mm surface negotiates transitions between the large areas of double curvature and the intensive, or constrained curvature of the tube-like columns.

Labyrinthine parts in two colorways comprise the two faces of the ultra-thin skin. Segmentation is the process of decomposing a three-dimensional mesh into linear or non-linear stripes.

Produced by parallel agent-based search protocol, the non-linear stripes are the result of the indecisive behavior of the agents, which change their attitudes in tight turns. As they come release date: 29 May 2019 together at seams and make their way to the ground, they find alignment as linear stripes.

Across the ballooning expanses, they express the recursive quality of the computational description. Bifurcations and splits in the pattern tighten and spread to produce porosity. Like bubblegum blown just to the point of popping, the skin becomes thinner and more open across the wider expanses of the spheres, allowing light to come through. Where the volumes merge, the stripes between them become more densely packed, lending to the structural performance.

The white exterior face shrouds the saturated coloration on the interior. Openings in the veil suggest the the energy inside, where cross-laminated stripes in a set of bright hues peek out from the interior. From a distance, the structure strikes a soft tone, but the viewer can still register the pulsing glow of the gradient within. It catches the eye from the street, but must be approached to be understood. The intensity of color grows as one nears the pavilion and finally envelopes the viewer upon entry—curiosity rewarded.

Inside, color opens up not just overheard, but at eye level, as pillars peel open to embrace the activity on the interior. A vertical gradient follows the height of the pillar and keeps the eye tracing the structure. Seating is grouped under openings in the skin, where the “bubbles” appear the most thinned out and over-inflated. Under these curious vaults, where color meets light, the employees and residents of Mecklenburg County have a place to gather, to recharge, to revel, and, perhaps, to daydream.

Design & Build : MARC FORNES/ THEVERYMANY

Location : Charlotte, NC, United States

Category : Pavillion

Area : 600.0 ft2

Dimensions: 26.5’H×23’ W×43’D

Material: two layers of 3mm aluminum

Linear Cut Distance: 11,000 meters

Number of Parts: 3,564

Number of Rivets: 54,000

Photography by NAARO