Browsing: Pavilion

© Armin Hess, Isochrom

Coop Himmelb(l)au has designed a temporary mobile performance space for the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Germany.  The pavilion will house performances during the annual Opera Festival  in 2010, and once that festival is over, the pavilion will be reassembled in various locations.  Designed to “give the impression of a quieter environment,” the pavilion reduces the apparent noise  to create a ‘zone of silence’ where visitors can sense a change in the soundscape.

More images and more about the pavilion after the break.

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Studio Nicoletti Associati’s design for an oceanic pavilion placed third in the Yeosu Expo.  The pavilion, which was conceived as a Great Blue Whale hurling itself out of the port, intends to represent the Expo’s theme: The Living Ocean and Coast. The pavilion draws attention to the fundamental influence of the planet’s oceans and coasts resources, and how dangerous it is for such a fragile ecosystem, to ignore them. The jury added that the pavilion has “a strong and powerful form that would become instantly recognizable. The theme of the Expo is symbolically represented with a shape drawn from marine life. The image of the pavilion is consistent with the theme of the ocean. Its fluid shape celebrates the nature of water and the marine life that has adapted to it. It makes a very simple but powerful metaphorical relationship. The exhibition space is very practical for post-use.”

More images of the pavilion after the break. read more »

The Turkey Pavilion unveiled its design this week and its theme “The Cradle of Civilization” was inspired by one of the first known settlements in the world, said Sencar Ozsoy, commissioner general of Turkey.

The main inspiration for the exterior of the 2,000-square-meter rented pavilion was also derived from settlements called “Catalhoyuk” in Turkish, which were the center of advanced culture in the Neolithic period.

The pavilion looks like an amazing red and beige box with an animal sculpture, inviting visitors to explore a maze of dreams. The first section of the pavilion will take visitors through a journey of time to learn about Turkey’s historical firsts. A map indicating the ancient sites of Turkey, the world’s first mirror and the world’s first man-built dam will be featured here. Istanbul’s infrastructure will also be introduced.

In the middle section, a 360-degree movie will display scenes from the streets of Istanbul to reflect the pride of the city as the European Capital of Culture. Visitors will then encounter the future in the final section, which is represented by a symbolic figure of the phoenix, a mythical bird which dies in flames and is reborn from the ashes, to embody aspirations for the future. read more »

Construction for the Malaysia Pavilion for Shanghai World Expo began a couple of weeks ago. The 3,000-square-meter pavilion will be like a traditional and high Malaysian hut. The facade of the pavilion will be made from a combination of palm oil and plastic, which will be recycled for other constructions after Expo.

The country will showcase its natural landscape and the solidarity of its different ethnic groups with the theme “One Malaysia — City Harmonious Living.” Malaysia has 47 ethnic groups, who live comfortably together in urban and rural areas. The country would highlight the harmonious conditions and interactivity between cities and villages, Malaysian Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen said.

Visitors will be able to pitch and putt at an indoor golf area in the two-story pavilion. The pavilion would hold lucky draws on key days during the Expo, such as August 31, Malaysia’s national day, and May 31 when China and Malaysia set up diplomatic relationships, Ng said.

More images and a video after the break. read more »

Richard Koek

Yesterday afternoon, we had the pleasure of attending the opening day of  Ben van Berkel’s New Amsterdam Pavilion in Peter Minuit Plaza, just outside Battery Park in Manhattan.  After walking around the pavilion and watching New Yorkers’ first encounters with the new sculptural piece, we had the opportunity to study the project with Mr. van Berkel as he explained his ideas and process. The pavilion is a gift from the Netherlands to New York in honour of 400 years of friendship; yet the pavilion does not attempt to physically manifest a representation of that relationship.  Rather, the pavilion can be interpreted in different ways and speaks to both the history and the future of the city.

More about our talk with van Berkel and more images after the break. read more »

Architects: Vallo & Sadovsky Architects (Matúš Vallo, Oliver Sadovský, Martin Lepej)
Location: Bratislava, Slovakia
Construction: Radovan Kendereš – EBEN
Constructed Area: 30.9 sqm
Budget: 50,000 €
Project year: 2009
Photographs: Pato Safko & Peter Spurný

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Joseph Burns

The much anticipated Termite Pavilion arrived at the International Arts Pestival in London earlier this week.  The Pestival is “a festival celebrating insects in art, and the art of being an insect…it is a rare creature: an international, inter-disciplinary, community-led festival.”  Inspired by the Namibian termite mounds, the six square meter walk-in solid timber structure  ”allows Pestival goers a unique insight into these extraordinary organic forms.”

More about the Pavilion after the break. read more »

After our UN Studio’s Burnham Pavilion gallery, many of you wondered how it was built. This photo reveals the woodenstructure for this pavilion, which was later finished with a plastic-like material.

Photo via Construmatica.

© Guillermo Hevia

A couple of days ago we featured Zaha Hadid’s Burham Pavilion at the Millenium Park in Chicago. Some of you asked about the UN Studio pavilion, and I got Guillermo Hevia to share with us a very good set of photos of the project.

If you want to know more about this pavilion’s background read our previous article.

More photos after the break.

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UNStudio's Pavilion

Zaha Hadid's Pavilion

We introduced the Burnham Plan Pavilions designed by Zaha Hadid and UNStudio a few months ago, and now, both are almost ready to be opened to the public.  Continuing Millenium Park’s tradition of displaying dynamic public art, the pavilions emphasize bettering the future, which echo the ideals of the 1909 Burnham Plan.  Although opening day was June 19th, only UNStudio’s pavilion was complete, as Hadid’s pavilion will require a few more weeks until it will be opened to the public due to its geometric complexities.

More about each pavilion after the break. read more »

© Iwan Baan

Rem Koolhaas’ latest project -The Prada Transformer- is not just a building, but also a statement on today´s state of architecture. Dubbed the anti-blob, this “object” rejects all common blobby shapes we have seen lately. Simple geometrical shapes (a circle, a cross, a rectangle and an hexagon) enclose a space that depending on its rotation results on different spaces suitable for fashion exhibitions, cinema, art exhibitions and other special events. Each face is the platform on which these activities take place, while also being served by the other faces enclosing the space.

© Iwan Baan

A few weeks ago we showed you part of the construction progress, which is already finished and opened in April 15th with a fashion exhibition (Waist Down – Skirts by Miuccia Prada, see video of animated skirts at the exhibition), that will be opened until May 31 when the Transformer will rotate into Cinema mode.

Architecture photographer Iwan Baan recently visited the Prada Transformer and shared with us this impressive photo set of the Transformer on Exhibition mode (see more after the break).

For me, search for the ultimate flexible space and the use of regular shapes puts several things in question. Transformable architecture is nothing new, but in times on which “mixed use” seems to be the 2nd typical characteristic of a building after “green”, this project makes a stand. No fancy shapes, no wind diagrams, no fancy structure, no shiny surfaces, no eye candy renderings. No blob. Just, a simple building.

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This Thursday, the chilean government presented the design for the Chilean Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010. The 2000sqm pavilion, named “Sprout of a New City” was designed by Sabbagh Arquitectos.

This was the first Latin American country to sign their participation on the Expo with their own pavilion.

The government emphasized that this pavilion will strength the relation between both countries, current commercial partners exchanging over US$17 billion.

More images after the break.

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In late 2008 the City of Punta Umbria, located on the coast of Huelva, Spain, organized a Competition for a Congress, Exhibition and Fairs building. MRDP Arquitectos sent us the winning entry.

The results:

1st Prize: FARO; MRDP Arquitectos | María Romero y Daniel Pérez
2nd Prize: CÓNCAVO-CONVEXO; Joaquín Aramburu y Asociados
3rd Prize: BI.VALVO; JOSÉ ÁLVAREZ CHECA

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Some time ago, some very lucky students at SCI-Arc, the legendary school of architecture and design in downtown LA, were tasked with a project that would cause great envy in any architecture student. To design a party pavillion that would debut in famous music festival Coachella.

The students will see their design unveiled this week, on the festival’s opening day, April 17. The course “Rock and Roll Fantasy”, was taught by three principals at Ball-Nogues: Benjamin Ball, Gaston Nogues and Andrew Lyon. Ball-Nogues won the P.S.1’s Young Architect’s Program competition for their installation Liquid Sky in 2007.

More information here.

Architect: Tatiana Bilbao
Location: Zaragoza, Spain
Design Team: Tatiana Bilbao con Mariana Tello, Francisco Solórzano & Thorsten Englert
Structural Engineering: Juan F. de la Torre Calvo
Contractor: OHL
Interior Design: Esrawe Studio / Héctor Esrawe con Ricardo Casas , Alain Herrera, Marcela Compean, Ian Castillo, Diego Hernández
Installations: AT Asesores / Carlos Martínez
Artistic Intervention: Marco Roundtree, Jerónimo Hagerman
Photographs:Tatiana Bilbao

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Alderman Brendan Reilly and the Burnham Plan Centennial Committee today unveiled designs for two temporary pavilions that will be installed this June in Millennium Park, symbolizing the forward-looking agenda of the 220 organizations commemorating this year’s 100th anniversary of the Plan of Chicago.

The architects’ rendering of the two recyclable pavilions were released by the Alderman, the Burnham Committee, the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the Art Institute of Chicago and Friends of Downtown. The pavilions will be open from June 19 through October 31 on the South Chase Promenade of Millennium Park.

Both pavilions-one designed by London-based Zaha Hadid and the other by Amsterdam-based Ben van Berkel of UNStudio-emphasize the importance of boldly imagining a better future for all, as Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett did in 1909 in their Plan of Chicago.

Seen at Bustler. More images after the break. read more »

Storefront for Art and Architecture, in collaboration with Goethe Institute New York, present Spacebuster, a project by Raumlabor. Spacebuster is a mobile inflatable structure that serves as an entirely portable, expandable pavilion. A new iteration of a past Raumlabor project, the Küchenmonument (presented in Europe in 2006-8), Storefront will bring Spacebuster to the US for the first time this April, when it will travel throughout New York for 10 consecutive evenings hosting various community events.

The pavilion is comprised of an inflatable bubble-like dome that emerges from its self-contained compressor housing. The dome expands and organically adjusts to its surroundings, be it in a field, a wooded park, or below a highway overpass. The material is a sturdy, specially-designed translucent plastic, allowing the varying events taking place inside of the shelter – dance parties, lecture series, or dinner buffets – to be entirely visible from the outside and likewise the exterior environments become the events’ backdrops.

Each of these ten evenings will be organized in conjunction with a community group, nonprofit organization, university, or arts organization. Events will include artist talks, film screenings, communal dinners and many other events. For full information on the lineup of events please visit the official site.

More images after the break. read more »

OMA sent us this new images for their latest AMO project, the Prada Transformer. More images after the break. read more »

I just saw the video for the new OMA project for PRADA, the Transformer. This pavilion currently being assembled in Seoul, Korea allows different configuration for different uses (cinema, exhibition, art , fashion show)  - related to a new mix of disciplines, between art, fashion and architecture.

Then, the question on how to mix these different uses under one pavilion become the architectural trigger for this new “object” (I rather use that word, as i think “building” is obsolet for it).

These different configurations result by rotating this object -the transformer- with a crane, and each face of this object is a plane with a given shape, specific for each use but also being used as a helper for other uses (ie: the cinema projector).

If you take a look at each of these shapes, they are all common to us: a circle, a cross, a rectangle and an hexagon… which results on a very recognizable object that Koolhaas calls the anti-blob, and I think that´s where Rem scores another one.

Anyway, i highly recommend you to watch the videos at the Prada Transformer website: Koolhaas explaining the transformer, time lapse of the construction and the transformer being rotated with cranes.

Channel pavilion (blob, by Zaha) versus Prada pavilion (anti-blob, by OMA)?

Renderings and diagrams after the break. read more »