FH trier + one fine day: treehugger

‘treehugger’ by holger hoffmann + one fine day + university of applied sciences, trier, germany images courtesy of roland borgmann, münster

holger hoffmann has sent us images of ‘treehugger’, a pavilion that is currently on display at the national garden show in koblenz, germany. created in collaboration with one fine day and the university of applied sciences in trier, the design looks to give both the students and craftsmen a broader understanding of computational design and computer aided manufacturing technologies.

exterior

polygonal and manifold in its appearance, the building aims to formulate a subtle link to the nearby built environment. positioned next to the basillica st. castor on a site that was previously used as a parking lot, the pavilion loosely integrates the structure with both the gardening show and the surrounding urban fabric.

deck and outdoor play area surrounding the structure

a facade of printed glass encloses the structure, blurring the interior volume with the exterior environment and superimposing the reflection of the encircling trees onto the unit. sustainably constructed using timber plywood, the pavilion will be dismantled and relocated once the show is over in october 2011.

(left) overall structure (right) detail of facade

organized into a single one-directional space, the design features an angular environment that is dictated by a series of simple geometrical operations. merging three individual programs into one, the layout looks to maximize the spatial distribution, allowing for multiple activities to take place at once. areas dedicated to exhibitions are shielded by tree-like columns that create small cubicles for educational work-stations, while lectures take place in the center of the space.

looking indoors from the garden

appearing as a merely haptic space of structural ornaments during the day, the complex modular structure

changes completely at night. reacting to the movement of its users, the environment literally virtualizes the

structure and its insides through a series of changing colors and luminosity.

interior

overall interior

interior in the evening

lit up at night

exterior at night

overall structure in the evening

facade in the evening

night view of overall site

site plan / floor plan

section

detail

diagram of joints

diagram of floor plan typologies

diagram of geometry

diagram of point of intersection with tree columns

rendering of interior

rendering of exterior

rendering of design in its early stages

night rendering of design in its early stages

project info:

client: chamber of skilled crafts, koblenz – christoph krause, director of the center for design, manufacturing and communication design: team of the department digital design at university of applied sciences, trier, professor holger hoffmann design phase: jan busemeyer, frank stolz, gabriel wüstner, peter zock execution phase: jan weber, eva ziegler, peter zock structural engineering: office for structural design, frankfurt am main: professor harald kloft, jürgen scholte-wasssink, florian mähl, peter gerlach execution: ochs GmbH, kirchberg: christian schiel (construction supervisor), frank schneider and sven schneider (CAD) team of the faculty intermedia design, university of applied sciences, trier:
 professor daniel gilgen conceptual design: thorsten gätz, jana schell, rebekka thies programming: professor georg j. schneider, faculty of computer sciences, 
with niko schmidt, julian-marc steffen, christian ternes
 light-design advisor: daniel zerlang-rösch

the fabrication of ‘treehugger’ has generously been supported by rhineland-palatinate’s ministry of environment, forestry and consumer protection as well as signal iduna and alwitra roofing systems.