Pavilion Constructed Out Of Milk Cartons Sets Guinness World Record

Architizer News

Pavilion Constructed Out Of Milk Cartons Sets Guinness World Record

January 7, 2013

We are in no way strangers to innovation, at least in terms of architecture and design. We’ve seen it all: styrofoam, inflatables, even Jell-O. But there’s always room for new discoveries, including recycled dairy cartons. Built using 45,000 cartons recycled by more than 100 colleges from around Granada, Spain, the Tetrabrik Pavilion (or Hall of Briks) was a temporary exhibition space designed in 2011 by CUAC Arquitectura and Sugarplatform to celebrate World Recycling Day. Also: The pavilion has set a Guinness World Record as the largest built structure created from recycled materials. Not too shabby for a few thousand used milk cartons! Read more.

Working with the waste recycling company RESUR, the Government of Granada aimed to use the project to raise awareness of the recycling of the traditional carton of milk, the tetrabrik. Using student workers from the school of architecture of Granada, the exhibition space was constructed in two phases including the initial construction and the on-site assembly. The cartons were linked together using clips, while sandbags provided a counterweight, reinforcing the pavilion against strong winds. As a part of the final stage of the project, the pieces of the pavilion were moved to a recycling plant to celebrate the last two weeks of the process.