Materials manufacturer Covestro has helped keep an architectural installation insulated from the unpredictable British summer at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
The Germany-based firm has provided Makrolon UV solid sheets for the 200 square meter Elytra Filament Pavilion in the John Madejski Garden.
The pavilion was designed by architects Achim Menges and Moritz Dörstelmann, civil engineer Jan Knippers and climate engineer Thomas Auer. Its aim was to explore the integration of biomimicry, robotics and new materials in architecture.
The pavilion was created using a novel manufacturing technique involving industrial robots, developed at the University of Stuttgart.
The central element is a delicate structure of carbon and glass fibers modeled on the forewing cases of flying beetles, called elytra.
Covestro's solid sheets cover an area of more than 500 square meters and are eight millimeters thick.
The interactive exhibition will be expanded continuously over the course of the museum's Engineering Season which runs through to Nov. 6.