In Accra, unfinished concrete structures punctuate the rapidly evolving cityscape. Here, architecture often exists in a state of suspended animation. Neither abandoned nor complete, but quietly inhabited. This sense of in-betweenness is precisely what Juergen Benson-Strohmayer of TAELON7 explores in his latest installation, the new Accra pavilion titled Limbo Engawa.
Commissioned by Ghanaian cultural hub Limbo Museum in partnership with Art Omi, the project seeks to examine how skeletal structures can interact with the surrounding landscape. ‘Limbo Engawa highlights the potential of in-between or overlooked urban spaces not just as gaps in the city, but as sites for experimentation,’ states Limbo Museum and Limbo Accra founder, Dominique Petit-Frère.
Tour the new Accra pavilion, Limbo Engawa
The name draws inspiration from the Japanese architectural concept of engawa, the threshold that separates the interior from the exterior. Drawing on this idea, architect Benson-Strohmayer developed a sculptural framework that activates the forgotten edges of the Limbo Museum, transforming them into spaces for encounter, movement, and exchange.
At the centre of the installation sits an oversized woven daybed that shades, frames views, and invites occupation. Visitors can sit, recline, or simply relax as nearby farmers tend their plots. ‘Rather than producing a permanent monument, the project proposes a flexible architectural tool that can activate spaces that are otherwise overlooked,’ says Benson-Strohmayer.
The woven daybed takes inspiration from everyday scenes. Across construction sites worldwide, workers often rest on simple woven beds during long shifts. This design reimagines that familiar object at an architectural scale. ‘The unfinished structure of the museum becomes a backdrop, not a barrier, turning the construction site into a place of gathering,’ says Petit-Frère.
Constructed from lightweight modular steel frames, the installation is wrapped in strips of salvaged billboard material, cut and woven by hand into a flexible skin. ‘The frames are modular and light enough to be carried by one person,’ explains Benson-Strohmayer. ‘These steel structures are fabricated using techniques similar to those used in roadside kiosks and billboard construction.’
‘Beyond the architecture itself, this collaboration is a way to explore how we can inhabit space, cultivate ideas, and nurture community at the same time,’ says Petit-Frère. For the founder of the Limbo Museum, the project aims to establish a new model for the annual commissioning of pavilions across Africa. ‘I have always wanted to create an annual architectural commission in Africa, similar to the Serpentine Pavilion.’
Later this year, Limbo Engawa will reappear at Art Omi in New York’s Hudson Valley, where its modular system will transform again. In contrast to Accra’s dense urban conditions, the American version will face the open landscape and changing seasons of the Hudson Valley. ‘The project unfolds across two very different landscapes, yet remains rooted in each place, creating a dialogue between Accra and New York that feels alive, open and deeply generative,’ notes Petit-Frère.
Around the world, unfinished buildings are often overlooked and rarely seen as sites for opportunity. Limbo Engawa, however, reimagines these spaces as sites of possibility, demonstrating how light-touch, thoughtful interventions can transform dormant structures into hubs of artistic, cultural, and social activity.
