MEAN* designed a 3D printed pavilion to welcome visitors into the desert of Wadi Rum, in the south of Jordan, as a Bedouin tent welcomes guests. The space is designed as an oasis of rest and communal gathering.
The topography of Wadi Rum is often compared to that of Mars. The desert has been a stage for science fiction films such as ‘The Martian (2015)’, ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)’ and ‘The Last Days on Mars (2013)’.
Considering the lightweight geodesic dome system of ‘Mars Camp’ located on a plot near the site, we envisioned a system of 3D printed panels deployed onto a CNC bent steel pipe frame.
The design borrows from both the Bedouin tent and the Mars Camp next door.
We used generative design to simulate the whole structure: a hybrid of a 3D printed polymer shell on 3D printed concrete topography.
Starting from the Bedouin tent, light and easy to move, we simulated its form using the ‘Mesh Relaxation’ parametric strategy, which approximates a catenary mesh in equilibrium.
Generated From A Field Of Forces
We treated the tent form as a ‘diagram of forces’, with ‘charges’ where the seating areas are, and used the pattern of a magnetic field to connect them.
We used the patterns emerging from the interaction of one space with another to develop the floor plan of the pavilion. The field lines between several nodes became the planning strategy.
To model these patterns, we wrote a script that adopts the ‘RK4 Method’, developed by the German mathematicians C. Runge and M.W. Kutta around 1900. The ‘flowlines’ from the magnetic field simulation are projected onto an optimized mesh generated by a script approximating catenary curves.
The script generates vector fields that resemble magnetic forces and uses them to subdivide the structure's outer shell into panels small enough for a 6-axis industrial robot to print.
A stepping topography of a 3D printed concrete platform creates a transition from the sandy site to the interior. The mesh is anchored toward the edge of the stepped platform, forming archways at the entries.
An Oasis Of Shade And A Micro-Ecology Within The Desert
The field lines start from the points where the supporting pipes meet the ground, forming funicular touch-points around which seating areas are allocated.
Desert trees and shrubs are planned in funnels at the center of the pavilion to cool and shade the interior. These funnels are also designed as ‘lightwells’ that bring daylight into the space.
The panels of the outer shell are tessellated to suit 3D printing. These tessellated panels are designed to filter light into the space and let air move through the interior. At night, linear lighting fixtures aligned along the force field patterns would give soft ambient light inside.
Today And Tomorrow
The pavilion is designed to give shade from the desert heat during the day and a place to gather and tell stories at night. It is designed as a welcoming shelter for today, and as a speculation on how people might one day live in the arid landscapes of Mars.