The Paper Pavilion, which was inaugurated yesterday, is constructed in the university's Serrano garden and will serve as a multi-purpose space for events, meetings, talks and exhibitions.

The project had a restricted budget, so Shigeru Ban designed a system of cardboard roof trusses and columns which were cheap to install and can be easily recycled when the building is eventually dismantled.

The tubes were manufactured and waterproofed locally in Spain and were assembled by members of the surrounding community.

The IE School commissioned the pavilion, supported by the Japan Foundation. The opening event was a lecture by Ban entitled "Appropriate Architecture".

Tokyo architect Shigeru Ban has used cardboard to construct a number of pavilions and structures in recent years, which ties closely to his work on disaster relief projects. He is currently working on a cardboard cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand, and has also built a pavilion with cardboard columns in Moscow and a temporary tower made of paper tubes.

See more architecture by Shigeru Ban on Dezeen or see more design with cardboard.

Photography is by Fernando Guerra.

The post IE Paper Pavilion
by Shigeru Ban appeared first on Dezeen.

Cristina Parreño Architecture worked with a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to create the Paper Chandeliers installation in the VIP area of ARCOMadrid.

The white cardboard tubes were suspended from a wire mesh structure and the cables holding the tubes were cut to different lengths to create the varied topography.

Lights were fixed above the installation to shine down through the gaps in the tubes.

"The light was extremely simple – it was really the geometry of the surface that created the light effect," Parreño told Dezeen.

The team from MIT comprised James Coleman, Sharon Xu, Koharu Usui, Natthida Wiwatwicha and Hannah Ahlblad.

We've featured lots of paper installations on Dezeen, including a canopy of 11,000 patterned paper sheets and a tunnel made from hollow paper stars – see all paper design.

Other installations we've published lately include a wall of clocks that make patterns with their moving hands and a warehouse filled with luminous tissue paper clouds – see all installations.

Photographs are by Luis Asin.

The post Paper Chandeliers by Cristina Parreño
Architecture and MIT appeared first on Dezeen.

"We use colour as an international language that everyone understands," Stone Designs partner Cutu Mazuelos told Dezeen. "We love to use colour as a tool that lets people feel the atmosphere that we want to show them, turning the experience of buying medicine into a social event."

Some of the wireframe boxes sit on a wooden platform, while others are mounted onto the walls.

Shelving colours shift from vivid red and pink on one wall to bright orange and yellow on another. Meanwhile, the checkout counter is finished in pale blue and features a white marble surface.

Pendant lights hang from the ceiling and patterned tiles cover the floor.

The shop is located beneath an old bridge, giving the space an arched ceiling.

Other pharmacies designed in recent years include one in Athens with a facade punctured by Braille and one in Belgium with a sliding cross-shaped window. See more pharmacies on Dezeen.

Here's a project description from Stone Designs:

Farmacia de los Austrias The Farmacia de los Austrias (De los Austrias Chemist) is placed in one of the most emblematic areas of historical Madrid.

Our initial idea was to create a new space typology, in which tradition and vanguard merge in such a subtle way that originate a slow and deliberate dialogue in which no element stands out of the rest, creating an almost musical harmony.

Products are displayed in really thin metallic structures standing in the bluish walls, creating a sweet and warm chromatic range that makes us feel at ease. This space transmits that we are attended by real professionals, but with a more human touch than usual.

Some details such as the white marble counter help to strengthen the concept of the “well done job” that oozes the old; while other materials like the tiled floor, embrace us in a warm and close atmosphere.

It is a project in which, due to its nature and small size, even the slightest detail has been taken care of, creating an enormous sensory universe that makes the visitor enjoy a most gratifying experience.

The post De los Austrias Chemist
by Stone Designs appeared first on Dezeen.

The Christmas lights were designed by Teresa Sapey for Calle Serrano, an upmarket shopping street in the Spanish capital.

Every year, Madrid's city council asks a designer or architect to create festive street lighting.

Sapey used energy efficient LEDs to form unique combinations of pattern and colour in each circle.

She founded her architecture studio in Madrid in 1990.

We previously featured Christmas lights in the shape of stars and dominoes that were installed across Lisbon last year.

We've also reported on another outdoor lighting project in Madrid – an outbreak of illuminated silicone nipples stuck onto statues by guerrilla lighting designers Luzinterruptus.

See all our stories about Christmas »
See all our stories about lighting »
See all our stories about Madrid »

Here's some more information from the designer:

Every single year, Madrid council asks some of the most important designers, architects or courtiers to make designs for Madrid’s streets. Teresa Sapey was asked to conceive Serrano Street’s Christmas lighting. Placed in one of the most luxurious neighbourhoods in Madrid, Serrano Street is well known for the high fashion designer’s shops.

It seemed to be a very difficult task, but Teresa thought this was a good chance to lighten up the street using very colourful and geometric designs. Her aim was to turn the grey and cold Serrano into a warm place, filled with colour.

Her designs have a countless amount of colours combined with circle shapes. Each one is different from the others, forming a sequence of drawings that can be seen from both sides.

This design concerns as well environmental conservation and ecology. Made by using LED technology, it is also sustainable and efficient, requiring less power and producing low energy consumption.

The post Christmas lights in Madrid
by Teresa Sapey appeared first on Dezeen.

The residence is located on the third floor of a 19th century apartment block and the architects have removed some of the original walls to create larger bedrooms and a central living room.

Unusually, a walk-through shower runs along the side of the living room, but can be screened behind a set of sliding doors.

"The owners practice yoga and meditation," explains architect Jesus Colao. "They wanted to simply define wet and dry areas, rather than feel they were constantly entering a different space."

The shower walkway stretches between bathrooms on opposite sides of the apartment, including one that opens out to the main entrance.

"Traditionally many Moorish homes, not limited to religious buildings, had a fountain for cleansing prior to entering a home or shop," said Colao, to explain the idea behind this arrangement.

Marble floors and surfaces can be found in each of the wet areas, including a terrace at the rear of the apartment that features an outdoor sink.

Dinesen hardwood covers the floors of the two bedrooms, while softwood beams create ribbed ceilings over the bathrooms.

See more stories about apartment interiors, including one in Milan with a wireframe staircase.

Photography is by Diego Dominguez.

Here's some text from the architects:

Orfila Flat by Schneider Colao Architects

Located on a quiet street in the Chamberi neighborhood of central Madrid, the Orfila flat is a gut renovation intervened within a historic 19th century apartment building. The original 200 sq. meter flat contained a winding maze of rooms which were gutted to design a structural framework allowing for an open plan which brings together various domestic programs including sleeping quarters, office, living space, open shower, kitchen and terrace.

3D axonometric plan - click above for larger image and key 

The project materials are addressed simply using naturally treated Macael marble throughout the flat and Dinesen hardwood floors in the bedrooms. The massive nature of the marble surface offers a continuous artificial landscape that fuses washrooms and public spaces into one.

Vertical openings were enlarged through structural means as much as possible and a terrace was extended beyond the existing limits of the property to maximize natural light.

Plan - click above for larger image and key 

Project Team:
Schneider Colao (Architects)
Jesus Colao (Lead Design Architect)
Beatriz Pérez Pérez de Iriarte (Design Architect)
Julia Lillo García (Design Architect)

The post Orfila Flat by
Schneider Colao appeared first on Dezeen.