Susana Solano exhibition

Fragile, strong, recyclable, creative and cheap. This exhibition made up of five layers of recycled paper has it all. Spanish/Mexican architects Cadaval & Solà-Morales applied ecological and sustainable principles to an exhibition design which was made on Susana Solano’s work, one of the most important Spanish artists (MOMA has several pieces of her).

The main objective of the project was to create a 100% recyclable design. A single system was designed to suit two spaces with opposed spatial attributes, allowing for a single reading of the exhibit. A unique envelope ought to unify spatial perception while solving by its layout the display of pieces.
A fragile, translucent, white envelope is build to receive a number of sturdy and powerful pieces. The reference is clear: the paper lamps used in fairs, made out of fragile honey comb paper, with its volume build up on air and inventiveness. From paper lamps to the recycled paper used inside wood doors to reinforce them there are a few hours of investigation, and the conviction to find in the paper industry a material that would feel our architectural aims, and be ecological friendly and economic.
The technical and technological implications of the material drove to the definition of a standard module, build out of a couple of standard doors and 5 layers of paper. A thick wall could be set up; its perpendicular view, creating a moaré, offered transparency within spaces and pieces; a tangent view would show a solid texture, building the limits of the constructed space, and frame the pieces.
The installation responded to ecological and sustainable issues. Not only the design was part of an itinerant exhibition, but also more, the main material used to build up was made up of recycled paper and could be recycled again. Moreover, decision on the material implied a radical decrease in costs.
The result: one of the cheapest designs ever built by the ICO Foundation and the use of almost 100% of recycled material that could be recycled again once the itinerancy was over. read more