Pavilions: The Latest Architecture and News

Russian artist Nikolay Polissky has unveiled his latest project, a large tower for the upcoming traditional holiday of Maslenitsa, a coming of spring celebration that ceremonially burns a symbol of winter.

Currently in the construction phase, the project is made from recycled wood pallets and the tops of logs, which typically are only used as cheap firewood. Additionally, the tower will be covered with hay rolls that cannot be used as animal feed, before being burned at a ceremony on February 25.

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Now in its eighth edition, Design Week Mexico, in collaboration with Museo Tamayo, has unveiled the design for a major public architectural pavilion designed by leading German architects Nikolaus Hirsch and Michel Müller. Until Spring 2017, the installation will be a cultural attraction at Chapultepec Park, Mexico City’s largest public park.

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At a vibrant intersection in downtown Jerusalem, The Architecture Department at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, in collaboration with the Israel Festival Jerusalem and EDEN—the Jerusalem development authority—created a temporary structure for the Israel Festival, which ran from the end of May to mid June of this year.

Located in Zion Square parallel to the tramway line, the pavilion creates a space to host art programs including lectures, concerts, dance performances, video screenings, and theater productions. The structure beautifully frames a dialogue between the urban routine and cultural experiences, giving users a new understanding of the Israel Festival, and of the potential of the spaces within their city.

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AL_A's MPavilion 2015 has been gifted to the City of Melbourne. It will be relocated from the Queen Victoria Gardens to a permanent site at Collins Street park in Docklands, says Naomi Milgrom, chair of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation.

“In its new permanent home, Amanda Levete’s MPavilion 2015 will continue to inspire and be part of our city’s cultural heritage as a public amenity of Melbourne. Amanda’s magical, forest-like structure joins a growing family of architectural masterpieces to be enjoyed by the people of Melbourne for years to come,” Milgrom said.

As the Milan Expo 2015 comes to a close, the winners of its best pavilions are being revealed. Wolfgang Buttress' UK Pavilion has taken top honors being named the exhibition's "Best Pavilion for Architecture & Landscape." A crowd favorite, the pavilion caught the attention of the world with it's mesmerizing (and photogenic) "beehive" made of 169,300 individual aluminium components that allowed visitors to experience the life of a bee.

Wolfgang Buttress' “pulsating” beehive is one of the first pavilions to complete for the 2015 Milan Expo. Serving as the UK's contribution, “BE,” the “virtual hive” is designed to highlight the plight of the honeybee and offer an “immersive sensory experience” that leaves visitors with a “lasting flavor of the British landscape.”

Comprised of a 14-meter lattice structure, made from 169,300 pieces of aluminum and steel, the domed structure sits at the end of a meandering wildflower meadow that leads visitors to the "hive." Once inside, a sensory composition of audio and visual effects will mimic the activity of an existing beehive in Nottingham. 

A look inside the beehive, after the break.