ASSEMBLY
A way for collaborating
An immersive installation where traditional Chiloé wood joinery meets modern techniques, creating a space for reflection on our connection with nature and craftsmanship.

An exhibition by CONTEXTO
10 may - 23 nov 2025

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The open wooden joints reveal its very essence: it is not just a structure but a way to
understand the tensions that hold it together and the delicate balance that keeps it standing.
The assembly, crucial in joining and adjusting the timber pieces—a noble, flexible, and resilient
material—forms a metaphor for collaboration.
Chiloé’s living carpentry tradition presents an opportunity to regenerate and reuse an ancestral
technology, revaluing this craft that has been crucial to the development of our culture. It is
about recognizing handcraft as a cognitive process in itself; the challenge lies in connecting this
learning experience through hand and body with an understanding of the vast possibilities that
mechanized assembly offers to architecture. With this goal in mind, a knowledge transfer
workshop was held in Chiloé to pass down the value and techniques behind traditional wood
joinery, bringing together expert carpenters and construction students from different parts of the
island to materialize the same assemblies used for the exhibition prototype. At the same time, a
prototype inspired by these Chilote assemblies was constructed in Venice, incorporating
mechanized cuts to showcase advancements in technique, the possibilities of wood
industrialization, and the benefits in terms of ease of transfer and representation. The project
aims to merge both technologies into a unified experience within the exhibition, challenging
architecture to embrace new techniques without abandoning manual processes and
collaborating across continents.
​
The design fosters an ethic of connection—between newcomers and locals, innovation and
tradition, land and sea. At the same time, it awakens empathy for fragile ecosystems and
techniques, mirroring our own fragility as we migrate through time, space, and collaboration.
Wooden Cloud
Workshop
SE - 3

Video
Text
SE-2
Text
SE-2
​
20 WOODEN JOINTS
51 PIECES OF WOOD
​
10x8". 2 PIECES
5x4" 9 PIECES
5x5" 5 PIECES
4x3" 13 PIECES
4x4" 14 PIECES
5x3" 4 PIECES
2x2" 4 PIECES​
​
Total volume: 0.30666 m3
Wood density: 480 kg/m3
​
Total weight:
0.30666 m3 × 480 kg/m3 ≈ 147.20 kg
ANCUD, CHILOE ISLAND, CHILE
Knowledge and Technology Transfer Workshop in Traditional Chilote Carpentry

This project was inspired by Chiloé’s Big Island, located at the gateway to Chilean Patagonia. Known for its ancient maritime culture and strong connection to nature, Chiloé has a rich tradition of shipbuilding and timber construction, seen in its iconic boats, stilt houses, and Jesuit churches built without nails.Each year, the impressive migration of cetaceans along its Pacific coast reminds us of the power and beauty of the natural world — inviting reflection and awe.

Ilustradora Antonia Montealegre
Fundación Iglesias patrimoniales de Chiloé: Carpintero José Luis Catalán / Directora Ejecutiva Natalia Cruz
Castro Technical High School, Chiloé/Liceo Técnico Profesional de Castro:
Construction Teacher – Nelson Calisto Hernández
Head of the Industrial Area – Pedro Villarroel Leiva
School Principal – Annita Ceballos Villarroel
Students from 4th grade: A. Tenorio, A. Comicheo, A. Panichine, A. Alday, A. Chiguay, A. Vargas, B. Soto, B. Gómez, C. Gallardo, C. Saldivia, C.Santana, C. Carreras, C. Pérez, C. Águila, F.Ojeda, G.Herrera, G.Pillampel, H.Gallardo, H.Herrera, J.Teiguel, J.Hugueño, J.Villarroel, J.Calbun, K.Ulloa, K.Montecinos, K.Zuñiga,
L.Miranda, M.Velazquez, M.Torres, M.Velasquez, M.Fica, P.Barrientos, R.Aravena, R.Ulloa, Y.Ibarra,
Contexto: Gilberto Lepori, Antonia Pellegrini
Photo credits: Pablo Wilson
Video documental: M.Jesus Torres Vásquez
DESIGN & COORDINATION


Antonia Pellegrini - Gilberto Lepori
PARTNERS & COLLABORATORS




SPONSORS - SUPPORTERS



