Minimal Surface, Maximum Impact

LAVA’s work is grounded in such inquiries, with a laboratory approach that explores and experiments with lightweight structures, form-finding in nature, and the principle of building “more with less.” Drawing on an architectural lineage that includes pioneers like Frei Otto, who studied natural forms such as the minimal surfaces created by soap films, LAVA employs digital processes to create responsive designs that—like organic systems—adapt to the specific conditions of each site, optimizing resources and structural performance for enhanced sustainability. Such an approach challenges the traditional view of architecture as a static, unchanging entity and presents it instead as a dynamic part of the ecosystem in which we live.

The design of Green Void exemplifies this methodology. LAVA utilized parametric modeling to simulate how a membrane would behave when stretched across the atrium of Customs House, allowing tension and gravity to guide the form in a materially and structurally efficient way. As Bosse explains, “Form-finding for this project involved defining boundary conditions and setting parameters—such as specifying where the structure should touch the building—and then allowing the form to emerge through algorithmic processes.” The resulting design, made from lightweight woven fabric stretched over aluminum frames and suspended by steel cables, has five arms that reach towards different levels of the building, opening outward as if in embrace of invisible bubbles.

Stretching 20 meters in height, Green Void encloses 3,000 cubic meters of space with only 300 square meters of surface area constructed from 40 kilograms of fabric. This material efficiency is a result of the form’s minimal surface area, which allows it to enclose the maximum volume using the least amount of material. Like Otto’s soap film, such geometries naturally adopt configurations that reduce material usage while evenly distributing structural forces. As Bosse notes: “Building with less material is possible if you allow a structure to follow its natural tendencies.” This design principle is reflected in the KACST Innovation Tower, which employs a similar logic but in reverse. While Green Void harnesses the geometry of the minimal surface to enclose space, the Innovation Tower inverts this process by subtracting that same form and constructing spaces around it.

To construct Green Void, one hundred and fifty unique pattern pieces were digitally printed, imported into sail-making software, and assembled using automated fabrication techniques. The structure, though solid in appearance, is soft and flexible, generating unexpected spaces within the heritage building. Multimedia elements further enriched the experience, with an 11-screen media wall showcasing the design and fabrication process, complemented by a sound work by David Chesworth that merged the natural and digital. “It’s designed to connect,” concludes Bosse. “It creates relationships between different programs and people, transforming the atrium into a space of communication and meaning, wonder and delight.”