Pavilion party: the architects packing a big punch with small structures

Pavilion party: the architects packing a big punch with small structures

Architecture / 23 Jun 2017

From provocative responses to socio-political issues, to solid pillars erected at the heart of communities, pavilions – whether permanent or transient – allow architects to experiment with materials, passions and concepts. Providing meeting points and shelter, they are socially minded centres for activity, debate and celebration – challenging people to integrate, interact and approach their environment in a new way. Here’s our ongoing pick of the best of the finest architectural pavilions across the globe...

Renzo Piano Photography Pavilion
Architect: Renzo Piano
Location: Château La Coste, Provence, France

Sunken 6m into a 500 acre vineyard in Provence, Renzo Piano’s Photography Pavilion at Château La Coste opened with an exhibition titled ‘The Sea and the Mirror’, featuring eight photographs by Hiroshi Sugimoto from the Seascapes series. The 285 sq m pavilion will host photography exhibitions and also preserve wine within its cellars.

Photography: Stephane Aboudaram, We Are Contents. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

Renzo Piano Photography Pavilion
Architect: Renzo Piano
Location: Château La Coste, Provence, France

Piano’s dynamic roof, lowered to ground level, is a focal point of the pavilion. It takes the form of a sail, connected with thin metal arches and alternating concrete ribs and glazing, which is anchored to the exposed concrete walls of the pavilion. At the back of the structure a concrete platform will provide a space for sculpture.

Photography: Stephane Aboudaram, We Are Contents. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

Renzo Piano Photography Pavilion
Architect: Renzo Piano
Location: Château La Coste, Provence, France

Situated between Aix-En-Provence and the Luberon National Park, Château La Coste has attracted artists and architects from around the world to contribute to building up an open air architecture and art exhibition. A winemaking cellar has been designed by Jean Nouvel and an art centre by Tadao Ando, as well as art works on the site by Louise Bourgeouis and Jenny Holzer amongst others.

Photography: Stephane Aboudaram, We Are Contents. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

Stonematters
Architect: AAU Anastas
Location: Jericho, Palestine

In light of the decline of stone building in Palestine, where the material can be found in abundance, Bethlehem-based architecture practice AAU Anastas collaborated with the the GSA Lab of ENSA Paris-Malaquais to research and innovate stone building techniques by examining historic free-form stone vaults across Palestine. The Stonematters pavilion was born from this research and also part of an artists’ residency programme in Jericho.

Photography: Mikaela Burstow. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

Stonematters
Architect: AAU Anastas
Location: Jericho, Palestine

The structure, which spans a surface area of 60 sq m, has been built entirely out of 300 interlocking stones that are mutually supported. Part of the challenge for the team was that the materials and techniques were locally sourced from the city of Jericho. For example, a polystyrene construction support was roughly cut in a local factory and transported to another factory for a robotic carving process, which determined the specific shapes of the ‘bricks’.

Photography: Mikaela Burstow. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

Stonematters
Architect: AAU Anastas
Location: Jericho, Palestine

For AAU Anastas, the stone pavilion is a symbol of the urban history of Palestine and the role of stereotomy, the art of cutting and assembling stones, in that history, yet it is also a contemporary form that demonstrates new, sophisticated local construction techniques and an evolving social model of urbanism for the city.

Photography: Mikaela Burstow. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

Dulwich Pavilion, ‘After Image’
Architect: IF_DO
Location: London, UK

Summer in London isn’t complete without a pavilion. While appearing blithe throughout the summer months, the Brits do rely on weather shielding structures in case of rain, and especially value a pavilion as beautiful as this contemporary, minimal form by London-based architecture studio IF_DO, which also conceals a bar within its reflective aluminium panels.

Photography: Joakim Boren. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

Dulwich Pavilion, ‘After Image’
Architect: IF_DO
Location: London, UK

The design structurally reflects the dimensions of the Dulwich Picture Gallery, which was designed by Sir John Soane 200 years ago, while bringing a fresh aesthetic to the landscape through clean, contemporary materials. Commissioned by the London Festival of Architecture, in partnership with the Dulwich Picture Gallery and Almacantar, the Dulwich Pavilion will host talks, live music and events beneath its timber and mesh veil roof throughout the summer.

Photography: Joakim Boren. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

WAVE/CAVE
Architect: SHoP
Location: Milan, Italy

Reveling in the opportunity to work with traditional materials, SHoP collaborated with NBK Keramik to create this sculptural installation made of terracotta. As a part of the exhibition ‘Material Immaterial’ at the Università degli Studi di Milano, the pavilion is a contemplation on the meeting of authenticity, materiality and technology in design.

Photography: Tom Harris. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

WAVE/CAVE
Architect: SHoP
Location: Milan, Italy

Working with engineers Metalsigma Tunesi, SHoP built up 1,670 unglazed terracotta blocks into three tiers of adjoining flute shapes creating a honey-comb style form that its contemporary and traditional at once. The cream-coloured, decorative appearance of WAVE/CAVE sparks up a delightful conversation with the courtyard in which it sits.

Photography: Tom Harris. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

The Beacon
Architect: JJS Arquitectura
Location: Woodbine Beach, Canada

Constructed from reclaimed wood with a weathered skin, the stoic form of The Beacon looks as if it has existed for years at Woodbine Beach, on the shore of Lake Ontario. It’s conical shape, designed by Joao Araujo Sousa & Joana Correia Silva of Porto-based JJS Arquitectura, is drawn from the abstracted essence of a traditional lighthouse.

Photography: Graeme Roy. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

The Beacon
Architect: JJS Arquitectura
Location: Woodbine Beach, Canada

The Beacon encases a charity drop-off point inside for canned goods and clothes, serves as a community meeting point, and also acts as a shelter for a lifeguard. One of the winners of the annual ‘Winter Stations’ festival, the architects see the project as an opportunity to establish a permanent network of donation pavilions across Toronto.

Photography: Khristel Stecher. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

Eclipse
Architect: FAHR 021.3
Location: Amor de Perdição Square, Porto

Injecting a pop of purple into the historic heart of Porto, Eclipse is a celebration of the Porto’s 20th anniversary as a Unesco World Heritage Site. Working at the intersection between art and architecture, local architecture practice founded by Filipa Frois Almeida and Hugo Reis, FAHR 021.3, designed the bold ball to inspire people to rethink the way they see the city. Advancing into the Amor de Perdição Square, where Eclipse is positioned slightly off-centre, the form appears solid yet moving closer the surface materialises as a web of three-dimensional holes – the 6m diameter orb is made of metal ventilation ducts which frame new visions of the 2000 year old urban centre.

Photography: Fernando Guerra (FG+SG). Writer: Harriet Thorpe

The Pod
Architect: Fathom Architects
Location: White City, London, UK

An oversized speaker has bowled up at White City Place, the former BBC Media Village, inside which is a studio space for recording podcasts. Creative agency dn&co asked Fathom Architects to design this moveable studio available for the public, businesses and brands to take their maiden voyage into the world of podcasting.

Photography: Tian Khee Siong. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

The Pod
Architect: Fathom Architects
Location: White City, London, UK

Based upon the shape of a speaker, the form is a ‘disrupted cube’ punched with circular windows resembling speaker cones that open the studio up to intrigued passersby. At 12 sq m in size, with enough room for six people inside, the pink and purple speaker is patterned with pixels generated from the world’s first radio transmission: ‘One, two, three, four. Is it snowing where you are Mr Thiessen?’

Photography: Tian Khee Siong. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

The Mirrored Sight
Architect: Li Hao
Location: Guizhou, China

Located on the north bank of the Longxi River – outside Longli in southeast Guizhou, China – architect Li Hao has constructed a permanent mirrored shelter made of bamboo.The pavilion, a place for leisure and contemplation, is covered with a skin of Pilkington Mirropane (a single-transparency glass) on the southern facade, which reflects the old town of a site established as an early Ming military settlement 600 years ago, culturally and architecturally unique from the surrounding area.

Photography: Kang Wei. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

The Mirrored Sight
Architect: Li Hao
Location: Guizhou, China

Inside the double-level space, the upper floor is a pyramid-shaped viewing platform which opens up framed views of the landscape. Reached from the town by a well-trodden, historic stone bridge, the pavilion is like a gateway house marking entry to the natural environment. A cultural landmark for the relatively isolated community, it provides a unique experience for citizens and visitors.

Gulliver
Architect: Martin Rajniš
Location: DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague

Floating over the courtyard of Prague's DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, 'Gulliver' is the latest addition to the city's booming cultural scene. Designed by Czech architect Martin Rajniš, the 42m-long steel and wooden structure, in the shape of an early 20th century airship, opened last week as a permanent new centre for literature. The architect used the shape of the airship as a symbolic reminder of a more optimistic time – of early 20th century technological progress and the artistic avant-garde. The actual structure connects both high-tech architecture and art events, hosted inside.

Photography: Jan Slavík and Petr Králík. Writer: Adam Štěch

Gulliver
Architect: Martin Rajniš
Location: DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague

The 10m-wide ship, made of wooden planks and covered by a curved plastic shield, will serve as a space for reading and public discussions of literature – fiction, poetry and critical writing – related to the themes of DOX’s exhibitions, which typically offer a critical view of particular aspects of the contemporary human situation.

Parametric Glacier
Architect: DJA (Didzis Jaunzems Architecture)
Location: Riga, Latvia

For just 24 hours last September, this glacial pavilion was installed in the Riga Dome Cathedral's garden as part of contemporary art forum White Night. Architect Didzis Jaunzems wanted to create a cool and contemporary pavilion to contrast the historic nature of the setting. Through the design, Jaunzems explored the two opposites of ‘naturalness’ and ‘artificiality’.

Photography: Uldis Lapins. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

Parametric Glacier
Architect: DJA (Didzis Jaunzems Architecture)
Location: Riga, Latvia

Living in a world where humans have developed science so far as to predict, recreate and simulate nature itself, ‘Can the artificial world fully replace the natural world?’ he asked. The pavilion itself posited this question to audiences through its very materiality – which looked so natural, yet was completely artificial. The icy effect was achieved with thin plexiglass, of which half was made matte with a sanding machine, before light was projected from within.

Urban Clippings (Mirror in the Sky)
Architects: Jimenez Lai, Bureau Spectacular
Location: Taiwan, China

As part of last year’s Taipei Landscape Public Art Project, Jimenez Lai, founder and partner at architecture studio Bureau Spectacular, created ‘Urban Clippings (Mirror in the Sky)’. The temporary structure was a floating device through which to view the city, acting as a kaleidoscope; framing and reflecting the urban environment. Lai invited visitors to enter the structure to view the ‘clippings of the city’ and to see their own infinitely repeating form reflected into the environment like a ‘visual echo’. Looking to open a discourse on the individual and the city, Lai previously worked at MOS and OMA before founding Bureau Spectacular, an architectural practice which takes a multi-disciplinary approach to design. ‘Urban Clippings (Mirror in the Sky)’ was on view until 28 December 2016 at the intersection of Jiancheng Park at Chengde Road and Nanjing West Road in Taipei.

Photography: JD Huang. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

Eye_Beacon Pavilion
Architect: Ben van Berkel, UNStudio and MDT-tex
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Visitors will find themselves compelled to visit the Amsterdam Light Festival information booth designed by UNStudio. The pavilion omits a hypnotic glow, mimicking that of bioluminescent deep-sea creatures, who use pulsating light to attract and communicate with mates. Inspired by the ALF's ‘biomimicry’ theme – ‘the imitation of natural phenomena for the purpose of solving complex human problems’ – the designers took the plunge and created a bold sculptural form constructed with 250 two- and three-dimensional tensile textile modules conceived by MDT-tex. Positioned in a patterned constellation, the overlapping modules enable the shape of the pavilion to twist dynamically between the two base cubes.

Photography: Janus van den Eijnden. Writer: Harriet Thorpe

Eye_Beacon Pavilion
Architect: Ben van Berkel, UNStudio and MDT-tex
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The soft glow of the form is created with LED lights supplied and installed by Zumtobel in consultation with Florian Licht of Licht & Soehne. These are projected out from the inside of the pavilion, evolving in a rolling gradient of colour. The ‘Eye_Beacon Pavilion’ is located on the western side of the Blauwbrug bridge, and will be on view until 22 January.

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