57 Pavilions is a 21st century manual documenting architectural design research at PennDesign examining new potentials for part to whole assemblies where experiments in material expression, morphology, performance and culture fuse with advanced digital design processes and fabrication to produce full-scale architectural consequences. Through the presentation of 54 half-scale pavilion projects and three full-scale pavilions a novel approach is laid out for generating higher ordered physical assemblies. The formations produce a new role of parts, material processes, and aggregations yielding a more autonomous character as discrete objects in a larger assembly. As the pavilion research moves into the world in full-scale installations, these new part to whole relationships provoke unexpected engagement with occupants, the environment, and the larger cultural context.
