Facade to the building H2O in Barcelona

In order to draw water to Barcelona the facade of a building. This is the H20 project by the architects of the New York firm Axis Mundi, in charge of designing a new facade for the six-storey building, located a few meters from Gaudi’s Casa Mila, home to the eponymous company produces bottles for mineral water.

The aim of the company to stand for creativity and innovation has been interpreted by the designers of Axis Mundi through the design of a three-dimensional surface that draws inspiration from interference, physical phenomenon where two waves overlap, producing a new wave equal to the sum or difference of the two.

The design of the facade H2O then reproduces the flow of water surfaces that interfere with each other producing the rocking motion.
“We studied – explains John Beckmann of Axis Mundi – the effect of light reflecting on water surface in different conditions: in rivers, streams and lakes. We then selected the image that visually attracted us most, to subtle ripples in a pond. From the photo so we obtained the three-dimensional model, served as the basis for cutting the panels. These were stacked to form a rippled surface, similar to the image of the pond. ”

The cover the entire facade consists in cutting the “skin” obtained by the coexistence of different panels. Some intersections were then removed in order to get openings for the passage of natural light. It follows a geometric composition of the facade that turns into a huge brise soleil made of phenolic composite material.