expo-67-theme-pavilions: Expo 67 Theme pavilions-Man In The Community, and Man and His Health
Montreal, Quebec, Canada,
Designed 1965
Two of a series of theme pavilions at the Montreal World's Fair, designed by leading Canadian architects and intended to demonstrate different aspects of the general theme, Man and his World, as well as different construction techniques.
To express the endless number of aspects of the theme, Man in the Community, this pavilion was designed as a giant tent of wood, whose space extended vertically to infinity in the centre and horizontally to infinity on all sides. The central space was as a large tranquil garden, representing the ideal, surrounded by a number of small pavilions containing the particular subject exhibits representing the reality of Man in the Community.
The ingenious structural solution utilized glulam box beams in a series of reducing hexagons formed by resting the corner of the one above on the sides of the one below. This lattice structure, from which was suspended a roof skin of enormous PVC plastic "shingles", introduced light into the central space precisely in the same manner as a tropical lath house. The original intention was to provide as tranquil and pleasant an environment as possible, and a space that would be large in scale and have a sense of extending infinitely away in all directions. Around this space would be the small pavilions containing the particular subject exhibits dealing with "community" so that there was always a contrast between the exhibit itself and the quiet garden. The lake in the centre, by virtue of its reflection, extends the space vertically, isolates the further reaches of the building, extending the space horizontally.
The shape of the building came from a consideration of a shape that would be complementary to the surrounding buildings and, at the same time, provide a large space. The structure came from the initial requirements of building in wood and the idea of a latticed structure introducing light as in a lath house. The skin was hung inside the overlapping hexagonal rings so that there would be a much lighter structure visible on the interior than would otherwise be the case with the heavy box beams, thus increasing the sense of space.
Photo- Life Magazine
