Mass Is More: the installation of IAAC and Bauhaus Earth for the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion

The project aims to demonstrate the potential of building with local wood on a mass scale.

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth

The new installation titled “Mass Is More”, designed by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) and Bauhaus Earth, opens today at the Barcelona Pavilion.

Constructed on the site of Mies van der Rohe’s famous pavilion and in dialogue with it, the project is a new timber pavilion, that explores the use of regenerative architectural materials, with a low carbon footprint. The mass timber CLT panels – which compose all the elements of the structure – are in fact sourced from Spanish forests.

“Mass Is More” showcases the possibilities of mass timber construction, based on the necessity of radical decarbonization, supported by bioregionalism and material circularity that fosters upcycling and reuse.

On one side the modernism, with concrete and steel, and on the other what should be contemporary architecture: renewable, sustainable, made with regionally sourced materials and carbon-storing.

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain

Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain

Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain

Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain

Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain

Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain

Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain

Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain

Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth

Pavillion "Mass Is More". Barcelona, Spain

Photography by Adria Goula. Image courtesy of IAAC/Bauhaus Earth