During an election year in Sweden, public squares are filled with temporary bases to display the political parties. Although only temporary structures, these “huts” play a vital role in the political networking system of the country. Such structures allow the politicians to meet and interact with the voters, answer any political questions and spread information, or even debate with those in neighbouring huts with different political ideas. “In the best case, such a structure is a manifestation of a parties’ political identity and priorities. It is therefore ironic that campaign-structures are similar, independent of what party they represent,” explained Antman Gorsetman Architects. In an effort to redesign the huts and allow each structure to embody their individual parties’ ideals, Antman Gorsetman Architects approached the political parties during the election year of 2006. The FI Party, the Feminist Initiative, was campaigning for the first time and decided to work with the architects to solidify their image in the public squares.
More about the election pavilion after the break.
“The FI-pavilion tries to fuse ideological and practical matters. It should promote interaction with people and be an inviting place to have political discussions. Last but not least it should be a clear symbol of the party in the urban landscape,” explained the architects.
The pavilion is a cube, as the geometry allows the form to face all sides in an equal way, inviting people from every direction. The different facades can be opened to allow the form to adapt to the different contexts in which the pavilions are placed.
A clear varnish exposes the roughness of the steel while the delicate perforated skin carries the strong magenta colour that identifies the party. For rain protection the roof was covered with a transparent plastic foil.
Three pavilions were erected in the three biggest cities (Stockholm, Malmö and Gothenburg) in the most central places. With their modular construction method, the pavilions are easily assembled in time for the campaigning and disassembled after their four week stay in the public squares. Next year marks another election year in Sweden with the hopes that “the ephemeral pink boxes will pop up again.”
