Robot-built pavilion will take centre stage as V&A explores the future of engineering
Visitors to the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London this May will be able to explore a garden pavilion inspired by nature and fabricated by robots in front of their eyes.
The Elytra Filament Pavilion – created by experimental architects Achim Menges and Moritz Dörstelmann in collaboration with engineers Jan Knippers and Thomas Auer – will launch a special Engineering Season at the museum.
The installation will explore the impact of emerging robotic technologies – such as biomimicry and fabrication – on architectural design, engineering and making. It will be formed by an undulating canopy of tightly-woven carbon fibre cells inspired by the fibrous structures in the shells of flying Elytra beetles.
Robots will expand the pavilion over six months by responding to real-time sensory data on its structural behaviour and the patterns of inhabitation in the garden.
“We aim to offer a glimpse of the transformative power of the fourth industrial revolution currently underway, and the way it again challenges established modes of design, engineering and making,” said Menges. “The pavilion will intensify the visitor’s experience of the V&A’s Garden by providing a differentiated and evolving space.
“Its intricate, filament canopy is at the same time architectural envelope, loadbearing structure and environmental filter, which will extend and transform over time.”
The Engineering Season will also include a major retrospective on Ove Arup, one of the 20th century's most influential engineers, famed for his work on the Sydney Opera House and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Engineering the World: Ove Arup and the Philosophy of Total Design – which runs from 18 June to 6 November – will explore how Arup's multidisciplinary approach to design defined how engineering is practiced today. His projects will be explored through prototypes, models, drawings, film and photography, plus new digital displays featuring animations, simulations and virtual reality.
We may not know it, but engineers organise the world we live in,” said V&A director Martin Roth. “Our lives are reliant on visible and invisible systems conceived, built, run or facilitated by the many disciplines of contemporary engineering. This season is a clear statement in our renewed interest in industrial design and the engineer.”
V&A robots biomimicry engineering architecture design London exhibitionV&A galleries exploring Europe's Age of Enlightenment reopen following extensive redesign
V&A museum breaks attendance record with Alexander McQueen exhibition
Disney developing robots that can walk exactly like its animated characters
FEATURE: Biomimicry – Learning from nature
Aman sister brand Janu debuts in Tokyo with four-floor urban wellness retreat
€38m geothermal spa and leisure centre to revitalise Croatian city of Bjelovar
Two Santani eco-friendly wellness resorts coming to Oman, partnered with Omran Group
Kerzner shows confidence in its Siro wellness hotel concept, revealing plans to open 100
Ritz-Carlton, Portland unveils skyline spa inspired by unfolding petals of a rose
Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners are just one of the names behind The Emory hotel London and Surrenne private members club
Peninsula Hot Springs unveils AUS$11.7m sister site in Australian outback
IWBI creates WELL for residential programme to inspire healthy living environments
Conrad Orlando unveils water-inspired spa oasis amid billion-dollar Evermore Resort complex
Studio A+ realises striking urban hot springs retreat in China's Shanxi Province
Populous reveals plans for major e-sports arena in Saudi Arabia
Wake The Tiger launches new 1,000sq m expansion
Othership CEO envisions its urban bathhouses in every city in North America
Merlin teams up with Hasbro and Lego to create Peppa Pig experiences
SHA Wellness unveils highly-anticipated Mexico outpost
One&Only One Za’abeel opens in Dubai featuring striking design by Nikken Sekkei
Luxury spa hotel, Calcot Manor, creates new Grain Store health club
'World's largest' indoor ski centre by 10 Design slated to open in 2025
Murrayshall Country Estate awarded planning permission for multi-million-pound spa and leisure centre
Aman's Janu hotel by Pelli Clarke & Partners will have 4,000sq m of wellness space
Therme Group confirms Incheon Golden Harbor location for South Korean wellbeing resort
Universal Studios eyes the UK for first European resort
King of Bhutan unveils masterplan for Mindfulness City, designed by BIG, Arup and Cistri
Rural locations are the next frontier for expansion for the health club sector
Tonik Associates designs new suburban model for high-end Third Space health and wellness club
Aman sister brand Janu launching in Tokyo in 2024 with design by Denniston's Jean-Michel Gathy
The Peninsula London unveils Peter Marino-designed spa inspired by London’s famous parks
First glimpses revealed of Mandarin Oriental, Mayfair's subterranean spa retreat
"Architecture is alive" says Ma Yansong, as Shenzhen art museum opens exhibition showcasing work of MAD Architects
SHA Mexico to debut in January 2024 with genome-inspired design by Sordo Madaleno
The Isola delle Rose has a rich history and an enviable location. Matteo Thun knew he had to capitalise on both with the design of the JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa