In january-february 2016, the construction of the Candela Pavilion in Ice will take place in Juuka, Finland. This project is part of the master dissertation of Bram Ronsse, graduate student at Ghent University, who will lead the project, under the supervision of prof. Kenny Martens will fulfill a leading role in this project. During the construction, they will be supported by a team of 1st master
students in the scope of a project work for the course 'Spatial Structures', taught by Jan Belis. The Candela Pavilion is part of a bigger project, together with the 'Bridge in Ice' by T.U. Eindhoven and the 'Snowtrack' by KU Leuven. After building the largest ice dome and the Sagrada Familia in Ice, T.U. Eindhoven already has quite some experience in structural ice. Last year Ghent University and KU Leuven also participated in the construction of the Sagrada Familia in Ice, but now, they will each build their own project, of course assisting each other along the way. The original structure was designed by Félix Candela, and can be found in San Jerónimo, Mexico. There it was built under the name 'Los Manantiales' in 1958. Originally it was designed as a restaurant, and it is still fulfilling this function up to this day. Thanks to the arc shaped lines in the pavilion (four intersection hypars), it was possible to make the original shell extremely thin: only 4cm of conrete. This concept will now be transfered to the ice construction, making use of an inflatable to spray the ice in the designated shape. The use of the word 'ice' in the title, as well in the above may be misleading, as no pure ice will be used to construct the Candela Pavilion. Instead, a composite material called 'Cellokrete' will be used, mixing cellulose fibres with plain ice, enhancing the properties of the latter.
