Sky B: Lazo Timber Vault
Description
This sky mediates design as a tool of reconciliation—bridging the structural and the ornamental. Echoing the timber strapwork (Lazo) roofs of the Western Mediterranean, the vault draws on Islamic geometry not for surface decoration but to develop a structural language akin to timber gridshells. Lines extend from a 10-fold Rosettes pattern, forming a structural network that holds and organizes ornamental pathways. The result is a spatial rhythm of interruptions and continuities—a new language that oscillates between what is seen and what is held.
In the process of forming this sky, studies of Islamic ornamental networks were overlaid with structural analyses of timber vaulting systems. A process we called pattern finding—where ornament becomes structure, and structure becomes ornament.
Materials: pine wood, wood stain, adhesive
Process
Lazo Timber Vaults at the Biennale
Maker and Making
Ángel María Martín López (Ávila, Spain)
a master carpenter and geometrist who has dedicated over 20 years to the study and practice of historic Spanish carpentry. His work spans both restoration and new construction, with a particular focus on the innovative structural systems of traditional timber domes. He directs the Escuela de Carpintería de lo Blanco de Narros del Castillo, a training center where traditional timber construction is revived through hands-on practice and research.
