Pavilon A, Exhibition pavilion in Brno-střed, Czech Republic.
Pavilion A is an exhibition pavilion within the Brno Exhibition Centre, featuring large glass walls that allow natural light to fill its interior. The building offers generous exhibition spaces and connects through passage systems to other halls within the complex.
Pavilion A was built in 1927–1928 as the Trade and Industry Palace, designed by architects Josef Kalous and Jaroslav Valenta. Construction lasted 230 days and consumed 50 freight trains of building material. In 1976 a built-in structure by Ivan Ruller, Zdeněk Müller and Petr Uhlíř joined the two wings; a 1980s reconstruction added heating and galleries for year-round use, and in 1998 a cylindrical spiral-clad passage linked it to Pavilion C.
Pavilon A's name is still often given as Obchodně průmyslový palác, the Trade and Industry Palace, recalling its role at the 1928 exhibition. Its V-shaped wings set the line of the exhibition centre's two main promenades, so the building shapes how visitors move through the grounds. A cylindrical passage with a spiral shell links it to Pavilion C.
The pavilion has an entrance rotunda that can accommodate many visitors at once, with multiple connected exhibition areas. The passage system makes it easy to move between the different sections throughout the building.
The load-bearing arches are not parabolic but chain-shaped (řetězovka), the curve a hanging chain takes when inverted. This catenary form carries the reinforced-concrete structure and glass walls, and it is the detail to look up at inside the hall.
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