3D Printed Pavilion Inspired by Wave Breakers
The scenery along Shanghai's 17-kilometer-long Lingang coastline is quite unusual. Giant wind turbines, massive breakwaters resembling rocks, and an almost uninterrupted sea… HCCH Studio 's 3D-print Plastic Wave Breaker Splash pavilion is situated precisely within this surreal coastal landscape.
Located right next to the Donghai Bridge, the structure reinterprets the breakwaters we're used to seeing on the coast, but on a completely different scale. From a distance, the pavilion appears as a single, blue-green, and somewhat alien object, but as you get closer, it transforms into a permeable structure composed of hundreds of small pieces.
228 pieces, in a single pavilion.
The pavilion is made up of 228 standard 3D-printed modules , each 480 mm high . The blue and green-toned pieces interlock and support each other, creating the structure's wavy geometry.
One of the references for the resulting form is scholar stones used in gardens in Chinese culture ; stones shaped by natural erosion, with their voids and unusual geometries, almost like miniature landscapes.
HCCH Studio combines this idea with minimal surface geometries. The result is not just an object viewed from afar. Visitors can walk through the structure, wander between its voids, and at times feel as if they are inside an artificial rock cave.
Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of the project emerges here. A highly engineering-focused object used to protect the coastline from waves is transformed into a small public experience for people to stroll through.
A system that connects like LEGO.
The initial idea for the project was to produce the pavilion entirely from 3D-printed recycled plastic and connect the pieces like LEGO blocks. However, designing on the coast isn't just about developing a good idea. Besides the high cost of recycled plastic, the structure needed to withstand the strong winds of the seaside. Therefore, the team opted for high-strength plastic in production and placed steel supports inside the hollow modules.
Therefore, the pavilion can also be interpreted as a balance struck between the free geometries offered by digital production and the very real and physical conditions of the coastline.
Three minor interventions along 17 kilometers of coastline.
Wave Breaker Splash is not actually a standalone project. It is one of three small ecological pavilions placed along the coast as part of the Shanghai Lingang Ecological Restoration Project .
These structures are designed to serve both as small resting points for city dwellers and as educational installations containing content related to marine ecology, along the 17-kilometer coastline.
It's hardly possible for three structures to be perceived together on such a long and homogeneous coastline. Instead of making them three variations of the same design language, HCCH Studio chose to give each one a distinct identity.
The structures were referred to as “Membrane Sea Snail”, “3D-print Plastic Wave Breaker Splash”, and “Recycled Brick Coral Reef” during their construction . Although their forms and materials differ, they all share a common approach: a strong, easily legible figure, a permeable space, and the use of materials that transform the structure itself into an exhibition object.
Adding a bit of quirkiness to the coast
Given the scale of the Lingang riverbank, these small pavilions could hardly compete with the landscape. Instead, the designers treated them like follies, simply placed within the landscape.
These structures, lacking roofs and defining space through walls and voids, reconstruct marine imagery—such as seashells, breakwaters, or coral—by abstracting and reinterpreting it rather than directly imitating it.
Wave Breaker Splash is perhaps one of the most experimental examples of this approach. On one hand, 3D printing and modular production; on the other, the scholar stone tradition of Chinese gardens, used for centuries. And in between them are breakwaters, one of the most ordinary infrastructure elements of the coastline.
These three seemingly disparate references converge in a small, blue-green artificial landscape on the Lingang riverbank, through which people can walk.
Project Details
Project: 3D-print Plastic Wave Breaker Splash
Design: HCCH Studio
Location: Shanghai, China
Year: 2024
Photos: Qingyan Zhu
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