Pulp Pavilion represents the culmination of five years of experiments with material composites using reclaimed paper. The result was a gathering space that was a respite from the sun and frenetic energy of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the California desert. It was an ideal place to view performances on two stages.

Because this construction system has no known precedent, it was essential for an experimental testing program of the assembled composite elements to be completed in order to understand the limits of the material within a built structure. As such, simple beam and column prototypes were created in order to determine bending and compression strengths and stiffness of the material. In understanding these properties experimentally, a full finite element structural analysis model was created with the experimentally-determined mechanical properties, and the structure was then subjected to anticipated wind and human loading cases.

By experimenting analytically with the geometry and thicknesses of the structure, we were able to determine acceptable thicknesses and geometry that could be used in the final construction. Several computational form-finding studies were also completed early in the design phase in order to determine minimal surfaces for the structure. By gathering these empirical results from small-scale experiments and extrapolating them into design criteria for the final form, we were able to predict the behavior of the structure under anticipated loads.

With no known construction precedent, experimental testing programs of assembled composite elements were implemented to determine material limits.