The installation “ChrYsalis Pavilion”, by architects Francisco González Quintial, José Real and Álvaro López, formed part of the programme of the Mugak/ Bienal 2025, held last December in Donostia-San Sebastián.
The proposal was installed in the nave of the church of the San Telmo Museum, where it set out a research exploration into the transformation of the intangible into architectural matter, combining advanced geometry, digital fabrication and augmented reality.
“Building castles in the air”
Under the conceptual theme of “building castles in the air”, the project addressed the tension between idea and construction, exploring an architecture situated at the boundary between what is drawn and what is built.
Monge surface and digital fabrication
The pavilion was based on the geometric principle of the Monge surface to generate a double-curved structure composed of galvanised steel rods and repeated metal joints. This system enabled the creation of a continuous lattice of warped curves that traversed the exhibition space.
The assembly process integrated robotic digital fabrication and augmented reality, which served as a guide for the precise construction of the structure.
Material research and a replicable system
Beyond its exhibition character, the proposal was conceived as a parametric construction system applicable to other complex geometries, using simple assembly rules based on modular repetition.
The project involved collaboration with the Fablab Donostia team and students from the Higher Technical School of Architecture of the University of the Basque Country (EHU), establishing itself as an exercise in research, teaching and advanced fabrication.
Architecture between the visible and the invisible
The pavilion established a dialogue with the historic architecture of the former Franciscan convent that now houses the San Telmo Museum, creating visual overlaps between the lightweight contemporary structure and the building’s vaults.
The work thus forms part of a broader reflection on the relationship between matter and idea in architecture.