the exterior of the completed Silk Pavilion installation painted gold — Photography by Josema Cutillas.

November 30, 2023

View a Towering Installation in Spain Made of Silk

Years of research into the structural potential of standard textiles transformed silk into a towering installation in Spain by Paloma Cañizares Office.

Textiles are Transformed in the Silk Pavilion Installation

Paloma Cañizares Office used AutoCAD to develop Silk Pavilion, a temporary installation unveiled last spring at the Concéntrico design festival in Logroño, Spain.

an AutoCAD drawing of Silk Pavilion, a temporary installation — Image courtesy of Paloma Cañizares Office.

The pavilion was formed from over a hundred yards of black silk that’s typically used to make clothing.

black silk in a roll — Image courtesy of Paloma Cañizares Office.

The fabric was draped over pleated molds, and then coated with resin, stiffening it enough for it to become a self-supporting structural panel.

black silk fabric being coated in resin — Photography by Asier Rua.

Architect Paloma Cañizares and her team oversaw the process at the fabric manufacturer’s studio in Madrid.

For additional support, the panels sandwiched a thin layer of fiberglass.

thin layers of fiberglass holding black silk for an installation — Photography by Asier Rua.

Behind the Creation of the Silk Pavilion Installation

10 architects and installers led by founder Paloma Cañizares
0.5mm fabric thickness
26 feet tall
328 linear feet of silk
12 panels

The exterior panels of the completed Silk Pavilion, which first appeared in the courtyard of Escuela Superior de Diseño de La Rioja during Concéntrico last April before traveling to Madrid’s Nuevos Ministerios gardens for 10 days, were painted gold.

Beyond a semi-sheer entry curtain, also silk, the 57-square-foot interior contained custom benches in lacquered steel, the same metal as the triangular structural pillars supporting the pavilion’s roof.

a sheer black curtain opens to black benches inside the Silk Pavilion — Photography by Josema Cutillas.

The color and pointed folds of each panel—repeated 12 times to form a dodecagon—were intended to evoke a bright star.

gold folded panels form a dodecagon shape like a star for this installation — Photography by Josema Cutillas.

Natural light, its pattern and shadow cast on the interior shifting with the movement of the sun, filtered through the narrow gaps around the roof oculus, also resembling a star.

the roof oculus of Silk Pavilion resembles a star — Photography by Josema Cutillas.

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