Alternative Skies - IE x Bienal Venecia

A large basket becomes a roof in Sky C, a project that explores how fragile materials can be transformed into architectural elements through a weaving logic aligned with structural strength. The vault's form emerges from two intertwined sources of knowledge. One is sensory and historical, rooted in the zarzo basket-weaving tradition of northern Spain, where willow strands are intricately wrapped around a central axis. The other is analytical, employing shell simulations to map structural forces onto the woven paths of the willow. To construct the vault, augmented reality was used to scale up the basket form and define the complex spatial relationships between the willow strands, allowing for precise and innovative construction strategies.

This sky mediates design as a tool of reconciliation, bridging the structural and the ornamental. Drawing inspiration from the timber strapwork (Lazo) roofs of the Western Mediterranean, the vault incorporates Islamic geometry not merely as surface decoration, but as a framework for developing a structural language reminiscent of timber gridshells. Extending from a ten-fold Rosette pattern, lines form a structural network that both holds and organizes ornamental pathways. The result is a spatial rhythm of interruptions and continuities—a language that oscillates between what is seen and what is held. In shaping this sky, studies of Islamic ornamental networks were layered with structural analyses of timber vaulting systems, in a process called “pattern finding,” where ornament becomes structure and structure, in turn, becomes ornament.

An exploration in travel and assembly, this vault proposes a brick shell designed to move—reimagining traditional brick vaulting through a system that negotiates gravity and mobility. Sky A breaks the vault into pre-manufactured segments: modular units framed in timber and filled with fired brick. Each unit is precisely calibrated—sized to accelerate construction while remaining light and compact enough to be carried and assembled by hand, without the need for heavy machinery. Constructed in a workshop setting, the process blends high-precision cutting tools with augmented reality guidance, merging digital fabrication with the craftsman's tacit knowledge to achieve swift, accurate assembly.

This section explores how these horizontal architectural elements—skies—act as a space for dialogue, organization, and negotiation between material, spatial, structural, and formal conditions.

This section unravels relationships among systems, geographies and memory as a process of adaptation, transformation, and continuity in architectural knowledge.

This section explores the notion of “building” as a multilayered process, bridging traditional craft and modern technology. As both legacy and hope, the Alternative Skies Archive ensures continuity while inviting new narratives. It is a bridge between generations, offering future builders, thinkers, and creators a foundation to explore, challenge, and innovate.