Zwahlen Krupičková. Panots Carpet

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich are requested by the German government to design a pavilion for the Weimar Republic in a short time to be able to catch up with the French and English pavilions at the 1929 International Exposition. When Mies went to see the site, the surroundings were already built. He decided to design the building as a passage between the main exhibition square and the Poble Espanyol.

The design of the master plan was begun by the Architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch together with the landscape architect Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier in 1905. The main exhibition square was planted with Plane trees and a row of pillars. Between them, you could glimpse the german pavilion walking on a gravel path leading from the main axe of the exhibition square towards it. The continuous horizontal lines of the pavilion were never meant to be seen. On the sides of the square, the earth was left visible. In the surrounding city of the World’s Fair, the pedestrian sidewalks were made out of either gravel, earth, or macadam.

In the 19^th century property owners in Barcelona would pave a sidewalk in front of their buildings, and the street would be left with earth. This unorganized paving led to chaotic, mud-filled streets. In 1906 the city organized a competition for new uniform pavements, where one company received a mandate for now over 100 years to produce “panots” out of hydraulic cement with 5 different patterns.

For the opening of the German pavilion a red carpet was rolled out for the honoured guest King Alfonso XIII. Today, there is still a carpet in front of the entrance. However, it is no longer red and it is only meant to prevent dirt from being transported into the building. Our project takes up this theme and places a new type of carpet on the square.

The “Panots Carpet” is a mixture of coverings that makes changes visible. The placement recalls the old gravel path leading towards the pavilion. In the beginning, it is a neatly patterned carpet inspired by the traditional paving “panots” that will blend over time. The shaped rectangle will blur over the months and expand laterally. The traces of people crossing the square become visible. After the rain, certain materials darken more than others. Water is stored in them and evaporation creates a natural cooling effect. Plants and insects are also welcome here. These nest in the joints and gaps and can multiply and thrive. This carpet is a place for everyone. It is composed of various natural materials that are locally available. They are by-products and waste products that will decompose through weathering.

An accompanying event took place around the carpet. For this occasion, parasols being set up at the former locations of the trees, where people gathering in the shade around the intervention. The reminiscence of the original atmosphere with the interrupted view can be experienced again.

This action is part of the European architecture platform LINA in which the Mies van der Rohe Foundation particiaptes offering fellows the opportunity to be part of the Fundació Mies van der Rohe program through conferences, workshops, mentoring or other collaborative formats, helping their ideas reach further and gain an international audience. LINA is made possible thanks to the support of the Creative Europe program of the European Union.