mazzocchio pavilion combines space & light to create social interactions

mazzocchio pavilion combines space & light to create social interactions
images courtesy of tamás bujnovszky, gábor somoskői, juan ezcura

french architects martial marquet and nicolas polaert were invited to take part in the hello wood architecture festival, located in csórompuszta, hungary. the duo design a structure, called ‘mazzocchio’, in reference to the geometrical drawings of italian renaissance painter paolo uccello. the underlying concept of ‘mazzocchio’ is to create a punctual light that defines a circular space.

the structure was quickly built thanks to its jointless assembling system

physically, the structure is made of a large wooden ring. the truss-construction allows for various atmospheres to be defined according to one’s position within the light-circle. to read, one would sit near the middle due to its full lightness. for chatting with friends, a ground might instead choose to reside near the edge, where the light is more shallow. ‘mazzocchio’ spontaneously provokes all situations simultaneously, using light cast to form boundaries, rather than physical materials.

‘mazzocchio’ is composed of 24 components, which were built by marquet, polaert, and a dedicated team of art and architecture students over a single day. after the csórompuszta festival (which lasted a few weeks), the form was broken down and re-assembled on sziget island in budapest, for the occasion of the sziget festival. 

once built, the structure quickly became the meeting point in the center of the festival area

daylight view of ‘mazzocchio’

detail of the wooden structure

cast shadows 

the team and the installation’s ‘production line’

construction of one of the twenty-four components

full ring, pre-erection 

eEach structural element combines three components; two columns and a lateral span

first rising of a three component set

lighting test at dusk

project info:

design: martial marquet, nicolas polaert
team: andrea ballesteros, juan ezcurra, sonya falkovskaia, vojtech nemec, gabor tajnafoi, sari weichinger, carina zabini
structural consultant: pierre brégeon, arborescence engineering
client: hello wood festival
location: csorompuszta, hungary
dimensions: 16x16x3.5m
material: pine wood
completion date: july 2015
photo credits: tamás bujnovszky, gábor somoskői, juan ezcura

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: nick brink | designboom