EXCHANGE PAVILION

San Diego studio Heleo and Tijuana artist Daniel Ruanova created the Exchange Pavilion, erected in Balboa Park as part of the World Design Capital. The pavilion is 16 feet tallat its tallest point, consisting of a steel structure covered with orange polycarbonate panels that twist to form the walls and ceilings of the structure. Most of it was fabricated in Tijuana and shipped across the border.

Heleo co-founder Carlos E Hernandez said that the studio and Ruanova wanted to use "democratic" materials in the construction. He said that the two materials that form the structure, steel and corrugated plastic, were meant to represent the two border walls and that the no man's land between the borders was reconceptualised as a place for gathering in the pavilion.

"It was a very simple gesture, taking these two walls that are bent together, and the corrugation on the material comes from the border wall that exists now, which is corrugated metal. And when you look at it with the polycarbonate, it gives you this kind of low-tech stained glass effect."

The interior of the structure is meant to represent the no man's land between the border walls, but as a space for gathering instead of exclusion, while not losing site of the complex relationship between the two cities. The floor underneath the structure is covered in artificial grass and seating elements made of California manufacturer Byblock's recycled-plastic masonry units are spread around.

According to Heleo, the pavilion is meant to be "hopeful architecture" and gesture towards the future of design in San Diego and continued cross-border collaboration.

Architects Heleo and Daniel Ruanova
Location Balbao Park, San Diego
Photography Paco Alvarez