Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Suspended Concrete Slab


Portuguese Pavilion for Expo 1998 designed by Álvaro Siza Vieira at Parque das Nações, Lisbon
This reinforced concrete slab about 20 cm thick is supported by steel cables allowing light to enter between the slab and the porch.

26 comments:

Olivier said...

tres moderne comme architecture, c'est assez original

Tanya Breese said...

amazing!!

Kaori said...

What a sight! I think I want a closer look, very interesting structure :-D

Kristen's Paintings said...

Wow, it's bowed in the middle. I guess if it has cables in it, it's okay but it looks precarious.

Maude Lynn said...

That's pretty wild!

Sharon said...

This looks so fragile, like a small amount of vibration might make it come down.

黄清华 Wong Ching Wah said...

I would have thought it was just a piece of huge cloth suspended between the two structures ... amazing architectural design and engineering ...

Sylvia K said...

Now that is different! I might twinge a bit walking under it! I don't think I've seen anything quite like that before! Have a wonderful evening!

Sylvia

VP said...

This is so strange and a quite fascinating use of cables and concrete. It does look not more heavy than thick canvas! Thanks for posting this unusual piece of architecture!

joo said...

Interesting structure.

Small City Scenes said...

That is amazing but I don't think I'd want to stand under it for very long. It almost seems fragile. MB

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

The construction of this is amazing and it has an unusual appearance... quite graceful actually. However, I do not think that I would want to walk under it - hah!

Genie

Birdman said...

This certainly is a strange one.

Lois said...

I don't think I could stand under that!

Sérgio Pontes said...

Adoro a perspectiva

PeterParis said...

I also wondered if I would like to walk under it ... today ... or in fifty years (of course I will not be there). :-)

DIGITAL WORLD PAGES ARCHIVE said...

Very interesting building...
I have not seen before so like building.Thank You very much for sharing!

brattcat said...

This must have been a wonderful design challenge. I love the way you swing from decay to seemingly weightless concrete in your posts.

Al said...

That's amazing! Although I'm not sure it would do well in our normally-snowy climate.

Lowell said...

Hmmm....I think I like it...certainly has a rhythm and charm to it and flows like the curvature of the earth, but how does anyone know for sure those steel cables will keep it suspended over my head? Would I sleep under it? I dunno.

People keep saying nuclear power plants are safe. I don't believe them, either!

Super composition, JM!

Randy said...

That is amazing! Looks smooth too.

Cildemer said...

Não me lembro ter visto essa coisa quando fui visitar a expo!
Incrivel que se tenha mantido tão bem!

***
Feliz dia et à bientôt****

Cezar and Léia said...

Wow que moderno!
Léia

Halcyon said...

I like this type of architecture. Really impressive.

T. Becque said...

That's concrete?! I think I might be a bit wary standing under it! :)

Mr. GS said...

This structure is super safe and many activities are held under it ( concerts for example ) .