Carlorattiassociati - Walter Nicolino & Carlo Ratti (Italy, USA)

Digital Water Pavillion (2008)

Programme: 13 muz, plac Żołnierza Polskiego 2 Saturday (21.03) Start 16:00

Carlorattiassociati – Walter Nicolino & Carlo Ratti is a rapidly growing architectural practice that was established in the summer of 2002 in Turin, Italy.  The office is comprised of three partners:  Anna Frisa, Walter Nicolino and Carlo Ratti. Drawing on Carlo's (Carlo Ratti's) research at the Massachusetts Institute of  Technology , the office is currently involved in many projects in Europe,  America and  Asia.
The practice was selected for exhibition at the 2004 Venice Biennale as one of the top offices in Italy . It has received many awards and its work has been featured in leading publications worldwide, including the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Der Spiegel, Discovery Channel, BBC, Domus and  Abitare.
Among the most recent projects are the design of the headquarters of the leading  Trussardi fashion house in the center of Milan, Italy , and 1000 Tsunami-safer houses in Sri Lanka. As of June 2007, the practice is working on the Digital Water Pavilion at the 2008 World Expo in Zaragoza, Spain. The building, which will be situated at the entrance of the exhibition, just before Zaha Hadid's newly designed bridge, has already received wide praise because of its
innovative features.
In collaboration with leading engineering practices – such as  Arup, Buro Happold, Whitby & Bird –the office has developed the know-how to successfully carry out large-scale architectural projects (over 300 million dollar). In June 2007 the Italian Minister of Culture named Carlo Ratti as a member of the Italian Design Council – an advisory board to the Italian Government that includes 25 leaders of design in Italy .

Digital Water Pavillion

Digital Water Pavillion has been designed and built for the Expo Zaragoza 2008, which features the theme of water . During the Expo, it will contain a tourist office and an information point for the Digital Mile project. If the Pavilion is not for living in, it can certainly be considered a machine. It contains over three thousand digitally-operated solenoid valves, twelve hydraulic pistons, several dozen oil and water pumps, a camera-operated control system, a good deal of controlling software, and many other components. The Pavilion is down, in closed operational mode. The roof is on the ground, covered by a thin layer of water . Only two volumes in glass, containing the Digital Mile info point and the tourist office, project upwards. It is a new medium, and
a rather exceptional one. It is made of thousands of closely spaced solenoid valves put in a row along a pipe suspended in the air . The valves can be opened and closed, at high frequency, via computerized controls.  This produces a curtain of falling water with gaps at specified points – a pattern of pixels created from air and water instead of illuminated points on a screen.
The entire surface becomes a one-bit-deep digital display continuously scrolling downwards. Something like an inkjet printer on a huge scale. So, how to make really fluid, reconfigurable architecture? Our building aims to stand as a possible answer to that endeavor . Fluid in the literal sense of the word. But also fluid as a reconfigurable, responsive building. The difference between wall and door can disappear . Facades can become a continuous medium that open and close interactively. The water itself is dynamic: it can display graphics, patterns and text. But, most importantly, it can almost become alive with
patterns that are generated in real time, replicated from one point to another and which respond to the nearby environment. The presence of people can be sensed by the DWP and this plays an important role in the dynamic process, allowing waves and other distortions to be generated.