The BIC Structure

Realised for IASS 2025 in Amsterdam, the suspended structure by AAU Anastas, The University of Miami and Yann Santerre is made of BIC Cristal blue pens and transparent laser cut joints.

The time of endless growth and unlimited consumption is over.

Recycling, reusing, and transforming are the new ways we found to answer current demands of sustainability. New constraints are progressively incorporated in the stakes of projects. The ecological war is declared. Industrial waste and ocean-flooding toxic substances are spoiling the earth. All of our culture has to be thought anew. It is not about imposing new norms, rules or relevant criteria. Defining new initial conditions is not sufficient either. Thinking differently is what it is about.

AAU Anastas, The University of Miami, Yann Santerre, BIC Structure, 2015

Not only is the BIC pen affordable, industrial and functional, but it is also an innovative object. It is a technical display of a way of thinking. The same way of thinking that has produced the great engineering of contemporary history. Since its invention in 1950, more than 100 billion pens have been produced. Umberto Eco defines it as “Intentionally ugly it became beautiful because it is practical, economical, indestructible, and organic, the BIC Cristal is the only example of realized socialism. It cancels any right to property and any social distinction.” The BIC is thus more than a pen.

Its 2km-worth ball point is made of tungsten, making it useable in all situations. Its oil-based ink is waterproof and dries in less than 2 seconds. Its polystyrene body allows for an evaluation of the remaining quantity of ink. It is pierced, in its center, in order to maintain a constant pressure on the ink and guarantee a harmonious flow. Its pierced cap avoids suffocation in case of an accidental inhalation. Its top and bottom caps are the same color as its ink. To describe the BIC pen, one needs to navigate between extreme simplicity and excellence, between common sense and brilliance.

Systematically reaching for better performance, the BIC pen is a brilliant response to an initial functional challenge. Its only limits are the intrinsic material properties and economical-related considerations. It is a symbol of yesterday’s self-sufficient engineering design process. Materials were then considered as basic consumables with established dead-still physical properties. A time where the only limit to the design process was linked to objects’ production. Today, the paradigm is fundamentally different.

Carbon footprint, Lyfe Cycle Assessment and natural resources exploitation are new criteria to take into account. Each project is inscribed in a global process. Each production implies a complete cycle. But what could we do of the realized myths that are part of our cultural heritage, and that our ecological conscience rejects? Our stance is to accept their existence, to take into account what characterizes them, and consider they are among the elements with which we are able to conceive.

The BIC Cristal pen was obviously not designed to be implemented structurally. However, it has mechanical and aesthetic properties that could change its function. The reflections and diffractions it creates because of its geometry are unique. This project is not about the object itself, but more about the process transforming its initial function. It is about designing with components rather than norms. Thus, we designed the BIC pavilion and truly believe in this way of thinking.

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AAU Anastas, The University of Miami, Yann Santerre, BIC Structure, plan

AAU Anastas, The University of Miami, Yann Santerre, BIC Structure, form finding

AAU Anastas, The University of Miami, Yann Santerre, BIC Structure, hybrid structure

AAU Anastas, The University of Miami, Yann Santerre, BIC Structure, stress diagram

AAU Anastas, The University of Miami, Yann Santerre, BIC Structure, geometry

The BIC Structure
Project: AAU ANASTAS; The University of Miami; Yann Santerre
Design team: Yousef Anastas, Elias Anastas, Landolf Rhode Barbarigos, Yann Santerre, Tim Michiels, Victor Charpentier
Client: iass Expo 2015
Fabrication team: Margaux Gillet, Yousef Anastas, Elias Anastas, Yann Santerre
Area: 24 sqm
Completion: June 2015
Sponsored by: BIC ® Company – France
Supported by: Ecole nationale superieure d’architecture de la ville et des territoires а Marne-la-Vallee.

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The BIC Structure

Realised for IASS 2025 in Amsterdam, the suspended structure by AAU Anastas, The University of Miami and Yann Santerre is made of BIC Cristal blue pens and transparent laser cut joints.

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