London architect Gilles Retsin built an experimental pavilion in Tallinn, Estonia, using Lego-shaped plywood building blocks.
The Tallinn Architecture Biennale organized an international competition, having encouraged participants to develop creative designs for a temporary outdoor installation, using the design capabilities of Estonian wood house manufacturers in an innovative way. The appeal attracted wide interest, 200 projects were submitted. 16 works were selected and Gilles Retsin was chosen as winner. His proposal has been described as: "characterized by exceptional aesthetics and intellectual challenge, as it challenges current beliefs and trends in architecture".
The traditional construction industry uses on average more than 7000 different pieces. The result is a complicated production chain, making construction slow, expensive and inaccessible for the greatest number. And if we could drastically reduce that number? The pavilion is based on a few Lego elements that can be used as columns, beams and claddings. The last decade has seen an explosion of parametric pavilion structures, built by schools of architecture, research institutes and amateurs.
These "parametric flags" are often similar: they are almost always based on a surface or shell, which is then divided into thousands of different pieces, then carefully re-assembled into the desired shape. This proposal is a critique of this approach and instead proposes to create a series of separate building blocks, similar to LEGOs, that can be assembled into a variety of structures. These building blocks are based on plywood sheets that are locally available and inexpensive. Each sheet is cut with a CNC machine and can then be assembled into a rigid building block capable of supporting structural loads. Blocks exist as a family of straight elements, 45 degrees, 90 degrees, and 135 degrees. These building blocks are designed to work in any structural condition: under compression, tension ... Blocks are protected from the outdoor climate with black tar or varnish. Thus, more than 380 m2 of plywood were cut and assembled into 80 building blocks.
The entire structure was manufactured in Tallinn, in collaboration with local manufacturers. The brick assembly is based on standard threaded rods, used in suspended ceilings or to hang gutters. These rods connect through several pieces, forming a rigid structure under tension. The blocks can be quickly assembled on site. The whole remains reversible, it can be modified or disassembled thereafter. The entire pavilion, with an area of 75 m2, was assembled in just 4 days by a crew of 4 people, without any mechanical tools such as a crane.
