As part of the ‘Green Architecture for the Future’ exhibition (on show until Dec. 18th), the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art invited the Danish architecture firm 3XN to design a pavilion demonstrating cutting edge possibilities with sustainable and intelligent materials. The result is a Moebius strip made of cork and bio-resin that features self-cleaning surfaces, phase changing materials and built-in sensors that generate energy from the footsteps of the visitors.


The vision of the project has been to build with biodegradable and energy-generating materials, creating an energy-self-sufficient architecture that also can be part of, and be decomposed in, the biological cycle after use. “Building with intelligent and biological materials with a refined finish, in a complex mode of expression, pushes the limit in people’s minds of what is obtainable with sustainable materials today”, the architects explain.

“The Pavilion has given us the opportunity to showcase the possibilities which exist in building with sustainable and intelligent materials. Our objective has been to show that Green Architecture can be dynamic and active”, says Kim Herforth Nielsen, Founder and Principal architect of 3XN. “ We often think that we need to minimize use of resources at all costs. Instead of focusing on consuming the least amount of energy, we need to focus on producing and using energy and materials in a more intelligent way than is the case today.”

In the pavilion structure, well-known synthetic products have been substituted with biological and reusable materials. For the outer shell of the sculpture, glass fiber composites have been substituted with a bio composite from flax fibers cast in biological resin.
Cork sheets replace polystyrene foam for the inner core.

In the pavilion structure, well-known synthetic products have been substituted with biological and reusable materials. For the outer shell of the sculpture, glass fiber composites have been substituted with a bio composite from flax fibers cast in biological resin. Cork sheets replace polystyrene foam for the inner core.

On the top face of the pavilion, 1mm flexible solar cells are placed. The cells are cast in thin film making them applicable to double curved surfaces. Piezoelectric materials that generate an electric current from the weight of the visitors are laid in the floor. Combined, this makes the sculpture self-sufficient with energy to power the integrated LED lights.

The pavilion has a coating of nanoparticles that makes the surfaces self-cleaning. Due to a hydrophilic nanostructure, rain water is dispersed beneath the dirt on the surface, leaving it cleaner. A second coating adds air cleaning properties to the pavilion. A chemical process called photocatalysis decomposes pollutants from industrial smog. According to 3XN, documentation shows that the air quality is improved within an 8-feet radius of air cleaning surfaces.

The pavilion retains heat by using phase changing materials. Heated by the sun, the material retains the energy, releasing it again when the temperature drops. At exactly 23 degrees Celsius, the material changes from a solid to a liquid form. When the temperature rises, the material absorbs energy and is liquefied. When the temperature drops, it solidifies and releases energy. In other words, the surface of the pavilion remains cooler when the temperature of the surroundings is rising, and vice versa.

The shape of the sculpture and the thickness of the structure were digitally designed to meet the exact needs. For example, 14 layers of fiber and 84mm of cork meet the dynamic forces arising from wind load and the load from people walking on the surface. “Adapting the new sustainable materials to the digital modes of production has been a huge challenge in itself”, say 3XN. “The learning process of substituting synthetic materials for biological counterparts has spanned the entire project phase, revealing many obstacles and given rise to new innovations on the way.”

The Louisiana Pavilion is a joint venture of 20 companies. Due to a tight 4-month schedule, it was essential that all parties involved took ownership of the project; that concept, design, innovation and production were all in play at the same time during the development phase - a process where several project phases melted into one.


Project Partners:

3XN – architects and project management
COWI – engineering and light design
Stage One Freeform Composites – production and installation
BASF, the chemical company – phase changing materials
Ashland Inc. – producer of bioresin
Amorim Cork Composites – producer of cork
Libeco-Lagae – producer of natural fibers
Flex Cell – producer of flexible photovoltaic
Noliac Motion – producer of piezoelectric materials
Nano-X GmbH – self-cleaning surface coatings
Phillips – producer of LED light
3M – structural tape
Micronal PCM©, climate control – phase changing materials
Optima Projects Limited – composite consultant
NetComposites Ltd. – network within composites
Scenetek – installation of electrical components
Danish Technological Institute – self-cleaning counseling
Risø National Laboratory DTU – Composite testing