/// VITRA – Delivery Centre
Client
Vitra AG, Birsfelden
Architect
SANAA, Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa
Local Partners
Nicole Berganski & Andreas Krawczyk
Structural consulting
Holger Techen, Matthias Michel
Development period
2007
The Curtain Wall Material Research
For the new Vitra storage facility Weil am Rhein, SANAA architects were looking for a thin, wavy, immaterial facing shell material, with optical attributes similar to a curtain.
Imagine structure group supported the architectural material research and developed a structural concept for an envelope made out of the material PETG, which is similar to acrylic glass.
Due to the fact, that the material will be exposed to sunlight, its own weight and temperature variations over many years, the synthetic material may deform over time. If the plastic panels were attached directly to the walls, the deformation would reveal their pin positions in the façade. To prevent this, our concept loosely attaches the panels at the roof not to interfere with the deformation and give the sensitive material the possibility to even itself out – just like its textile archetype.
facadeworld 