Hall for the 64 Exhibition at Lausanne

Abstract

A plastic hall has been constructed for the exhibition at Lausanne. This hall is remarkable in that the plastic material acts as a resistant structure. The large ground area of the hall has been covered with 24 elements, which were prefabricated, and are mushroom shaped. They have a central device which enables the cables of each unit to be stretched. The vertical supports also act as conduits for the rainwater. The possibility of making use of polyester sheets as loadbearing elements is due to the fact that these work entirely under tensile forces. They are shaped as dihedral angles, with reinforced edges, and are kept open by an arrangement similar to the one that keeps an umbrella up. Although their strength in bending is not large, use of it is made to give the structure greater stiffness. As this is a material whose use is not yet frequent in loaded structures, it was necessary to study the stability and stress distribution of these elements with the aid of scale models. The transparency of this material, its novelty, its low cost and weight, and the possibility of achieving many designs opens a new field to modern architecture.