Bamboo Pavilion

Carpas Y Lonas El Carrousel S.A. de C.V.

The National Autonomous University of Mexico celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, holding several commemorative events. For this event a pavilion was built to house a time capsule that would hold relics from the first 100 years of the University. The pavilion, designed by a group of academicians, together with the Faculty of Architecture and students, was to have certain characteristics. Together they developed a structure using bamboo, a representation of a technological and environmental challenge. By using bamboo they sought to promote the use of a constructive element that could benefit the economy of construction, preserve the environment and promote the industry and economy of certain localities of Mexico. Overall, the project aim was to build a structure of bamboo for the pavilion with a PVC membrane cover.

This structure was covered by PVC membrane, whose geometry is a shell of “cascaron reticulado de traslación” (arching curved form with a network of ribs) constructed from bamboo arches with an anti-catenary guideline. The catenary operates as a funicular, submitted only by the force of gravity resulting in efforts of traction uniformly distributed along the element. Reversing the catenary is obtained through the anti-catenary that works through efforts of compression uniformly distributed. The covered area of the pavilion is 16.2 meters by 18.6 meters (303 square meters), supported only by four points in the corners. For the entire project we used a total of 2,060 linear meters of bamboo and 370 square meters of PVC membrane. We were invited to build the membrane cover and are greatly interested in the particular characteristics of this kind of bamboo structure, namely using a natural element with a synthetic element for a whole project.

Project details

Location: Mexico City
Size: 303 sq.m
Fabrics: Carplex Plus by Oplex S.A. de C.V. from Oplex S.A. de C.V.
Engineer: Armando Moreno Sanchez, Ingenieria Estructural
Design: Andres Casares Cortina Y Eder Hernandez Rodriguez Andres Casares Cortina Y Eder Hernandez Rodriguez, Facultad De Arquitectura De La Unam
Architect: Dr. Javier Cortes Rocha, Facultad De Arquitectura De La Unam
Fabrication and Installation: Hector Mendoza Uribe, Carpas Y Lonas El Carrusel, S.A De C.V.
Subcontractor: Arq. Maria Ines Gonzalez, Universidad Nacional Autonoma De Mexico
Project Manager: Victor Hugo Mendoza, Carpas Y Lonas El Carrusel, S.A De C.V.