BMW 'Bubble'

For the presentation of the BMW group at the International Automobile Exhibition IAA 1999, a pavilion was designed to introduce the concepts of solar energy and hydrogen driven vehicles. The pavilion had the form of two drops frozen in the moment of their fusion. The shape of the drops was generated with a special software, the primal geometry defining the basis of the planning process.

Crystal clear acrylic glass was used for the shell, with its surface consisting of 350 segments. In order to enable the manufacturing of the double-curved panels, computer aided CNC milled PUR foam forms were produced. Mounted to this structure were 10 mm sheets which were hereby shaped. The entire digital process from design to manufacturing enabled a double-curved asymmetrical shell, perfectly depicting the preassigned calculated shape of the drops.