Marble pavilion by TDC

Marble Pavilion under construction — The Marble Pavilion is constructed from 300 machine-produced and hand-finished pieces of Ritsona red marble.

(Image credit: TBC)

Pushing digital design to the limit, while provoking a thoughtful reconsideration of the architectural applications of marble, Athens-based architectural studio TDC has created a temporary marble pavilion for the newly launched Interior Design Show in the Greek capital.

Avoiding the classical (read conventional) forms that one normally associates with marble (and, for that matter, Greece itself), TDC adopted a typically experimental, even playful, approach that fused some heavy duty mathematical calculations with state-of-the-art technology.

Working with Ritsona red marble (supplied by Daskalakis Marbles, one of Greece’s leading marble companies) and enlisting the help of specialist marble construction company Technomarm, architect Dimitris Tsigos and his team pieced together the sinuous marble structure from 300 machine-produced and hand-finished pieces.

“From its aesthetic qualities and the juxtaposition between its natural playfulness over the mathematic ‘games’ of the overall shape to its durability and strength, the benefits of using marble as a construction material are numerous,” says Tsigos, explaining his choice of material while pointing out that the stone is not without its challenges. “It’s a non-standardized and rather difficult natural material, which makes it quite hard to adapt to a digital fabrication process like the one we used.”

In fact, so challenging were the design and stone that in order to achieve a result that was smoothly perfect and visually harmonious, the TDC team had to develop several new construction techniques to accommodate the varying thickness of the slabs and other natural imperfections.

Construction of Marble Pavilion — The Marble Pavilion takes form.

carefully cut red marble — Ritsona red marble was carefully cut with state-of-the-art technology.

TDC architects developed new construction techniques to accommodate the varying thickness of the marble slabs.

Marble Pavilion completed — The Marble Pavilion is an attempt to reconsider the architectural applications of marble.

Stretching nearly 10m, the Marble Pavilion is a sinewy, curvaceous structure that encourages viewers to recline on its finely hewn ribs.

TDC's design of the Marble Pavilion for the Interior Design Show in Athens pushes digital design to its limit.