An exhibition booth of 700 square meters, flexible, futuristic, ergonomic and impressive by Greek architects Natasha Liana and Hermes Halvatzis, who are based in London, won the annual Industrial Fabrics Association International Achievement Award, which recognizes top design. The project is known as the London Iconic Pavilion, and was presented for the first time on February 2, 2016 in ICE Gaming convention, the largest gaming exhibition in London.
“We won the project following a competition organized by Intralot”, says architect Hermes Halvatzis. “In our proposal, they saw their company’s future because of the values that our work exudes. It has a unique, intense symbolism and ergonomics. It can be transported all over the world, as it is very lightweight, self-sufficient and economical.”
Standing 5.5 meters high, the Pavilion is characterized by its eight petals made from fabric and aluminum. “Each petal provides a region with exhibition potential”, explain the architects. “It is a choreography of eight vibrant canopies, which are suspended and create an ethereal feeling. This is achieved using 10-meter brackets which makes the structure challenging since there is only one point of support.”
The project can be transported and serve various needs. It is portable architecture. “It can go all over the world. Our consultants for the engineering support of the project are one of the largest agencies in the world and are based in London with branches in almost all major countries. They are called BuroHappold and their other works, among others, are the roofs at the British Museum, the O2 Arena, Olympicopolis, the new Louvre in Abu Dhabi etc. It is a great honor for us to work with such pioneers of engineering, who believed in us and our vision.”
This architecture, reminiscent of organic forms which absorb and reflect light and play with perceptions of space is characteristic of the philosophy of Natasha Liana and Hermes Halvatzis.
They have an interesting take on Athens too, which has been presented with their proposals that take the old city into the future. (Athens Up, Athens Vision). What characterizes their approach is to create projects that can act as collectors and transmitters.
It is no coincidence that both were selected by Zaha Hadid to staff her London office as young architects. They worked on large projects. They presented their experiences at TEDx Thessaloniki, on April 1, 2016, the day after the death of Zaha Hadid, during an emotionally charged talk.
Their independent work (LC Architects) as architects and designers, moving flexibly in the international environment has great interest in plasticity and innovation. It was this application of their ideas which won them the prize after all.
