Temporary Pavilions Research Articles

Pop-ups can be ugly: temporary architecture built with emotions

Pop-ups are temporary installations, constructions, or structures that suddenly appear in urban contexts to draw attention for commercial, artistic, or social purposes. Temporary pavilions, whose existence is bound to their capability to engage with unknown citizens or passers-by and offer them a spatial experience, are also identified as pop-ups. However, what are the features that make a temporary structure a pop-up? What architectural elements do designers outsource when conceiving and materialising pop-up architecture? At what point does a pop-up become something else? This paper aims to answer these questions by providing insights into design explorations that extend the meaning of pop-ups and enquiring, through a survey and interviews, the boundaries of what can be understood as pop-up architecture. Collective definitions address the fundamental role of human emotions in the conceptualisation and materialisation of these temporary structures, suggesting the secondary role of aesthetics when engaging with users.

Exploring Ecological Relationality Through Architectural Practice

This practice-led research article explores how post-humanist and eco-feminist perspectives of entanglement and relationality challenge human exceptionalism as a basis for making architecture in the process of the Alusta research pavilion. Multisensory spatial experience, material circulation and more-than-human temporalities are explored through building a temporary pavilion for multispecies encounters in an urban museum setting. Reflecting on the project, an architectural space is understood as a continuous process of becoming enacted by various human and nonhuman forces instead of as a stable object with a sole human author. Architecture is reimagined as part of the web of care sustaining all life.

Cultural Memory and Nationalism at Scotland’s International Exhibitions: 1886–1938

This paper explores the ways in which Scotland portrayed itself during the run of International Exhibitions in Edinburgh (1886, 1890, 1908) and Glasgow (1888, 1901, 1911, 1938). It will be shown that Scotland, as a fundamental component of the British Empire, served to increase visions of Britishness in these Exhibitions (or World’s Fairs) by hosting a number of colonial exhibits and focussing, for the most part, on modern technological advances in machinery and engineering. While all of these Scottish exhibits did self-reflect on history and Scottish nationhood (via literature, art, and architecture), this paper will show that the novelty of doing this, in sharp contrast with the pomp and exuberance of the imperial display, reduced Scottishness to yet another exotic ‘other’. Following the ‘Old London’ featured in 1884, Edinburgh and – later – Glasgow featured ‘old towns’ which offered visitors an impression of their lost cityscapes, dislocated from their original place and built among the many other temporary pavilions. In the twentieth century, both cities featured human displays: a nefarious turn in Exhibition culture across Europe which curated people from colonial lands on a level with their material culture. Scotland, as part of the British Empire, boasted Senegalese and West Africans as part of their popular attractions. Following this, Glasgow followed London in displaying the people of the Scottish Highlands as part of a pastiche village named ‘An Clahan’: a crystallising moment in Scotland’s disorienting self-portrayal in these British imperial contexts. In working through these case studies, this paper will consider scholarship from the fields of history and memory studies.

The Obverse/Reverse Pavilion: An Example of a Form-Finding Design of Temporary, Low-Cost, and Eco-Friendly Structure

Temporary pavilions play an important role as experimental fields for architects, designers, and engineers, in addition to providing exhibition spaces. Novel structural and formal solutions applied in pavilions also can give them an unusual appearance that attracts the eyesight of spectators. In this article, the authors explore the possibility of combining structural novelty, visual attractiveness, and low cost in the design and construction of a temporary pavilion. For that purpose, an innovative structural system and design approach was applied, i.e., a membrane structure was designed in Rhino and Grasshopper environments with the use of the Kiwi!3D IsoGeometric analysis tool. The designed pavilion, named Obverse/Reverse, was built in Opole, Poland, for the occasion of World Architecture Day in July 2019. The design and the construction were performed by the authors in cooperation with students belonging to the Humanization of Urban Environment organization from the Faculty of Architecture Wroclaw University of Science and Technology. The resultant pavilion proved the potential of obtaining a low-budget but visually attractive architectural solution with the adaption of parametrical design tools and some scientific background with innovative structural systems.

The Avant-Garde Monument

Abstract This article homes in on monuments designed by proponents of the historical or classic avant-gardes. After the First World War, monuments by, among others, Kurt Schwitters and Johannes Baader, Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe, Vladimir Tatlin and El Lissitzky, Man Ray and Salvador Dalí, began to articulate a new function for the genre of the monument: no longer was it to commemorate the past, but to memorialize the present and time to come. This new architecture of memory also led to an expansion of the genre, which in the hands of avant-gardists further came to include temporary pavilions. Paying attention to theoretical writings on the monument, among others, by László Moholy-Nagy, Siegfried Giedion and Robert Smithson, the article concludes by referencing more recent experimentation in monument design by artists such as Flavin, Oldenburg and Hirschhorn, arguing that a comprehensive history of the avant-garde monument is long overdue.

Hilma af Klint and the Need for Historical Revision

Hilma af Klint and the Need for Historical Revision

Exhibir arquitectura en Colombia: una historia en construcción

<p class="p2">Desde pabellones temporales en exposiciones internacionales, pasando por exhibiciones itinerantes en museos de arte, hasta muestras experimentales en bienales y trienales; exhibir arquitectura es hoy una práctica profesional y un objeto de investigación. No obstante, en este campo creciente, algunas geografías permanecen ausentes, con lo que se ignora las conexiones de dichos eventos arquitectónicos con algunas disciplinas, actores y redes. Por tanto, este artículo recupera un siglo de historia de exposiciones de arquitectura en Bogotá y proporciona un paso inicial para reconocer la exhibición de arquitectura como una pieza fundamental en la historia de la disciplina en Colombia y como un componente vital de la difusión de la cultura arquitectónica en Latinoamérica.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>

Temporactive pavilion: second design-to-construction loop of an ultra-lightweight temporary architecture

ABSTRACT The paper presents the design to construction process of an ultra-lightweight hybrid temporary structure consisting of a combination of bending-active glass fiber-reinforced polymers arches, a restraining system made of stainless steel cables, and a translucent membrane envelope. After a brief introduction to the basic design concepts and versatility of the modular system to create different shapes, the paper focuses on the fast-track erection procedure that enables to build the pavilion in a very short time. A multi-disciplinary team had collaborated at the design development of the temporary pavilion, built with the aim of deepening a wide range of aspects that are peculiar to temporary architecture. The aim of the second design-to-construction loop, following the first loop which resulted in the construction of the first full-scale prototype, is two-fold: firstly to optimize the innovative mix of lightweight structural components with the aim of reducing the total weight of the building (and thus facilitate transport and installation), and secondly to test the technical details designed to favor reversibility and to ensure the re-usability of the structure for multiple cycles of use. The paper concludes by showing the results achieved and the lesson learned from the first construction of the temporary pavilion in occasion of a one-week event and anticipating the further studies regarding the interface between structure and membrane envelope, also in relation to the building expected life-span and requirements.

The ephemeral condition in the contemporary city: three temporary pavilions in Rio de Janeiro

En estas primeras decadas del siglo XXI vivimos un momento especifico de alta modernidad, caracterizado por la fugacidad en diversas esferas de las relaciones sociales y economicas, una condicion efimera que se expresa en la ciudad y construye nuevas dinamicas espaciales y arquitectonicas. Este articulo busca reflexionar sobre la relacion entre esta condicion efimera y la sociedad contemporanea, observando como se materializa en la ciudad. Especificamente, buscamos entender como se asimilan estas caracteristicas en la arquitectura en el caso de los pabellones, una de sus tipologias mas efimeras. Con este fin, partimos de la discusion de algunos autores que se ocupan del cambio de paradigma de la modernidad a la posmodernidad, para luego sistematizar y discutir los conceptos de dinamismo, reversibilidad, flexibilidad e imprevisibilidad, con los que se evaluaran los casos de los pabellones temporarios. Finalmente, concluimos que estos conceptos ofrecen una matriz con la cual es posible releer la vida urbana, operar nuevas formas de disenar y concebir el espacio de vida e intercambio en la ciudad, respondiendo asi a lo efimero de lo emocional, historico, fisico y social.

Re-designing a temporary pavilion into a NZEB open lab for a university campus

During the Milan Design Week 2018, a temporary pavilion - “Delight The Light” – has been design and built - as press room for Officina Tamborrino - using their own products as construction technologies. This paper explains the evolution of this project from a temporary architecture into an NZEB open lab for university students. The introduction of innovative multilayer insulator materials characterized by high heat-reflecting properties and the tailored envelope design ensure the satisfaction of comfort both in winter and summer season and reduced drastically the time of constructions. The process, followed to reach the NZEB target, is based on performance-based design analysis. In particular the validation phase has foreseen a very detailed modelling steps on the building model through dynamic thermal simulations with finite element method to validate its thermal and hygrometric performances, coupled with daylighting and fluid dynamics simulations to consider also the users behaviour and well-being during the design stage.

Ecologically Sensitive Event Space in Urban Landscape

The paper describes the condition of public space in cities in the face of climate change. To provide social integration, cities must have an attractive public space that activates people. The starting point for the conducted research is Bernard Tschumi theory of „event cities”. According to Tschumi, architecture is a discourse about the spaces and events that take place in it. In this theory, the essence of space is to animate the movement and actions, which strengthens the social and political dimension of architecture. Today, we often encounter the crisis of urban space, which is unattractive, unhealthy and does not favour the activity of the inhabitants. Environmental changes have a significant impact on this fact. The aim of the research is to present the possibility of using architectural events in the process of improving the space quality and the microclimate prevailing in it. According to the research results, ecologically sensitive pavilions may play an important role in this context. Problems of water shortage, air pollution and temperature rise are taken in many pavilions in a practical way. Temporary pavilions become in this sense a field of scientific experiments, indicating the possibilities of using new proecological solutions in the city. The aim of the research is to classify this type of examples. The selected examples were divided due to their role, technologies used, as well as the relationship with city space. According to the research results, these objects can perform a number of functions in the urban space. They stimulate social relations, play an educational role, improve the climate in the city and make the surrounding space more attractive. An important common element of these facilities is the use of renewable energy and a zero energy balance. The presented examples lead to the conclusion that pavilions can play a significant role in improving the quality of contemporary urban space.

CULTURAL HERITAGE RECONSTRUCTION FROM HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEOS

Abstract. Historical archives save invaluable treasures and play a critical role in the conservation of Cultural Heritage. Old photographs and videos, which have survived over time and stored in these archives, preserve traces of architecture and urban transformation and, in many cases, are the only evidence of buildings that no longer exist. They are a precious source of enormous informative potential in Cultural Heritage documentation and save invaluable treasures. Thanks to photogrammetric techniques it is possible to extract metric information from these sources useful for 3D virtual reconstructions of monuments and historic buildings. This paper explores the ways to search for, classify and group historical data by considering their possible use in metric documentation and aims to provide an overview of criticality and open issues of the methodologies that could be used to process these data. A practical example is described and presented as a case study. The video “Torino 1928”, an old movie dating from the 1930s, was processed for reconstructing the temporary pavilions of the “Exposition” held in Turin in 1928. Despite the initial concerns relating to processing this kind of data, the experimental methodology used in this research has allowed to reach a quality of results of acceptable standard.

Life cycle environmental benefits of a forward-thinking design phase for buildings: the case study of a temporary pavilion built for an international exhibition

Abstract The life cycle of a pavilion built for an international exhibition was investigated to understand the role that the design phase may play in the environmental sustainability of buildings. The limited life span of the structure allowed for a complete life cycle assessment (LCA) based on primary data to be undertaken, including the end of the first life. A methodology that considered an extension of the service life was applied to estimate the environmental impacts of distinct end-of-life scenarios. Results confirmed the paramount importance of the design phase in improving the life cycle sustainability of buildings. Accurate selection of materials allowed to markedly reduce the impact of the product stage (e.g. 37% fewer greenhouse gas emissions). Design for disassembly proved to be a necessary but not a sufficient condition to minimise the end-of-life impacts: design phase should not be limited to the appropriate selection of materials and components’ connections but must also foresee a second use for the structure or the materials at the end of the first life. Forecasting an after-life for the structure could reduce the life cycle burden up to 40% for several environmental impact categories. Conversely, if the second use is not predefined, the economic cost in the dismantling operation could become the priority rather than the salvaging of the components. Results of the present study may be used by future (temporary) building designers to improve the sustainability of their structure and to avoid the errors identified in the present case.

ヨシを構造材料として用いた仮設パビリオンの設計・施工

In this article, design and construction of a temporary pavilion using reed as structural material are reported.Recently, reed is little utilized with the decline of reed industries. The aim of this study is to develop a new effective use of reed as tourist resources. To realize the structure of the building only by reed, a method to make joint between reeds quickly are developed. Because of very light weight of the building, enough rigidity and strength against wind load are required. We applied the dome-like shape and “Semi-random truss” to the building and evaluated its structural behavior and performance.

Recent Work on the Design and Construction of Air Inflated Structures

Over the last few years our practice has been responsible for the structural design of a number of lightweight structures that achieve their structural stability by inflating elements of fabric structure. The paper will explain the design rationale of key examples; describing the structural forms, methods of analysis and design, and the detailing, materials, and methods of fabrication. The largest and most complex of these structures to date is a demountable stage set structure for the Cirque du Soleil “Toruk: First Flight” show, comprising two 15 metre high and 20 metre wide structures. The stage set structures form ‘trees’ on which acrobats climb and perform. Each structure incorporates a high level access gantry with acrobat suspension and counterweight systems, as well as a secondary inflatable skin cladding. The entire primary structure and cladding system is constructed from inflated fabric elements using internal pressures ranging from 0.5 KN/m2 up to 90 KN/m2, and are deflated down to less than 5% of their erected volume for transport between venues. Other examples of our work described will include temporary pavilions with clear spans of up to 25 metres, using a combination of air tight and air permeable elements. Also a range of wide span structures that we describe as “semi-permanent” that are capable of resisting full environmental wind and snow loading, and that are fully demountable but that can also be erected for extended periods of time in a single location.

Design and Manufacturing of the Linko Demountable Fabric Pavilion for the Motorsport Sector

This paper offers a detailed overview of the design and manufacturing aspects faced during the design and construction of the temporary pavilion for Linko Resources Ltd. The pavilion has been designed for the motorsport season 2015 and is based on bent aluminium profiles, designed to minimize the weight of the structures, and a double membranes skin realized through a PU coated Polyester fabric (waterproof layer) and a PVC coated polyester open mesh fabric (solar radiation control). The first section of the paper describes the requirements of the client, the architectural design and the structural design of the components. The second section presents the materials used, the connections and the optimization of the packaging in order to minimize the transportations volumes.

A new generation of temporary pavilions based on Tensairity girders

AbstractThis paper provides a detailed overview of the design and construction of a series of temporary pavilions based on the Tensairity® principle. The pavilions are currently used in the Superbike racing category (Ducati Superbike Team), for the Audi tron Sailing Series, the ISAF Sailing World Cup and for other temporary events (3KIT pavilion). The paper describes the Tensairity® principle, the architectural and structural design of the pavilions, the manufacturing of the components and the assembly of the Tensairity® roofs.

Dynamic deflation assessment of an air inflated membrane structure

As a critical safety performance index, the emergency evacuation capacity of air inflated membrane structures subjected to accidental deflation deserves in-depth study. Although conventional static analysis can be applied to predict its potential collapsed shapes, it cannot provide details of collapse behavior and the internal air state variation. Dynamic analysis is recommended. The focus of this paper is to apply the Control Volume method to deflation simulation of a large-scale air inflated arch frame, which is designed for a temporary pavilion, and to validate numerical analysis results by full-scale testing. Through a series of preliminary studies on air inflated single arches, practical analytical parameters and solutions are concluded regarding proper numerical modeling, pre-stressing, and precision controlling. A full-scale frame is then modeled and simulated. Results appear to agree with experimental tests of the corresponding real-life structure with minor differences in collapse behavior and deflation duration time. Several general guidelines for design and deflation simulation analysis are proposed as a result of research. Feasible measures to ensure emergency evacuation capacity of the air inflated arch frame are adopted in the design based on results of this dynamic assessment.

From the Waters of the Empire to the Tanks of Paris: The Creation and Early Years of the Aquarium Tropical, Palais de la Porte Dorée

From May to November 1931, the Exposition coloniale internationale was held in Paris. Publicized as a trip around the world in a single day, it was designed to stimulate investments and general enthusiasm for the colonies. Along with exotic temporary pavilions representing the various colonies, model villages inhabited by colonial natives, and pavilions representing commercial product brands and other colonial powers, the exposition included a zoo and an aquarium featuring animals from the colonies. Installing a large aquarium had been a costly and difficult process, and construction was plagued by many delays and problems. But when the aquarium finally opened a few months into the exposition, it quickly became a favorite of the public. With the double mission to provide a living synthesis of the products of the warm waters of the French empire and give visitors a sense of the diversity, beauty, and economic resources of their colonial possessions, the aquarium functioned as a panorama that presented a striking visual metaphor for the empire. This article follows the aquarium during the exposition and in the years that followed. We explore its place in the history of aquaria in general and pay particular attention to its role in the exposition and within the French colonial context of the 1930s and onward. Here, both the scientists in charge of the site and the aquatic animals living in its tanks and terrariums provide a window into the relationship of marine biology, public education, consumerism, and colonialism at mid-twentieth century.

KERALA: (Inde du Sud/South India). Le chant des Pulluvan/Pulluvan Songs (review)

Reviewed by: KERALA: (Inde de Sud/South India). Le chant des Pulluvan/Pulluvan Songs Joseph J. Palackal (bio) KERALA: (Inde de Sud/South India). Le chant des Pulluvan/Pulluvan Songs. Recordings and notes by Laurent Aubert in collaboration with Ravi Gopalan Nair. AIMP LXXIII, Archives internationales de musique populaire Musée de'ethnographie, Geneva, VDE CD-1147, 2004. One audio CD, 64'41," 36 pp. of notes in French and English (general notes, track notes), 8 photos. With this CD, Laurent Aubert has drawn attention to a rather complex musical system that lies outside the realm of the much-studied classical traditions of Kerala, a culturally diverse region on the southwest coast of India. The performers are known as Puḷḷuvan and their songs as Puḷḷuvan paṭṭu (Malayalam, "song of Puḷḷuvan"). The Puḷḷuvan are family ensembles of itinerant bards. Their performances combine religious myths and rituals with melody, melodic and [End Page 161] rhythmic instrumental accompaniment, visual and decorative arts, and body movements. The Puḷḷuvan sing to propitiate the serpent-gods, ward off evil, and invoke divine blessings on their patrons. One of the rituals is called pāmpin tuḷḷal ("trembling of snakes"), which is associated mostly with small neighborhood shrines or temples dedicated to the serpent-god. The ritual is preceded by the ceremonial selection of a space made sacred for the occasion, the erection of a temporary pavilion (pandal) decorated with tender palm leaves, and drawing of snake-images with multicolored powder on the ground. During the ceremony young virgins, entranced by the haunting melodies and repeated rhythmic patterns, allow themselves to be possessed by the snake spirits, and tremble and gyrate their bodies simulating the movement of snakes. The Puḷḷuvan accompany themselves on the musical instruments: vīṇa, a single-stringed fiddle with or without bells attached; kuṭam, a clay pot that has a truncated base covered with cowhide connected to a variable tension mono-chord; and kaymaṇi, a pair of small cymbals. The names of the first two instruments are often referred to as "Puḷḷuvan vīṇa" and "Puḷḷuvan kuṭam" to distinguish them from their usage in other contexts. For example, kuṭam, a clay pot used to fetch and store water, is called ghaṭam when used as a percussion instrument in Karnatak classical music, and viīṇa is a long-necked, fretted lute in the classical tradition. To the Puḷḷuvan, the musical instruments are much more than sound-and rhythm-producing mechanisms; they are a living link in the reenactment of myths that connect to stories as old as the Mahābhārata (first millennium BCE). The CD is an excellent introduction to the Puḷḷuvan's repertoire. There are nine tracks recorded between 2001–03 on different occasions at various locations. The recording quality is excellent, and the vocal and instrumental sonorities are distinct. The thirty-six page booklet in French with English translation provides information on the Puḷḷuvan and their music, the ritual of the serpent-gods, the performers, and their musical instruments. The notes on individual tracks include a description of song themes. Since music is only a part of the Puḷḷuvan's art, the booklet includes eight excellent photographs to help listeners relate to some of the more visual aspects of the performance. The selection of tracks offers "an encompassing sound image of Puḷḷuvan music, while highlighting the individual qualities of the performers" (28). The inclusion of performers from four different family ensembles helps to experience male and female inflections and a variety of performance styles in the repertoire. The themes range from praises of popular Hindu gods like Shiva (track 1) and Ganapati (track 4), to a song to invoke blessings on Aubert (track 9). Aubert acknowledges the limitations in the scholarly presentation of the repertoire because, among other things, the Puḷḷuvan do not agree on the names [End Page 162] of various rhythmic patterns or on the descriptions of the melodic structure (24). The difficulty lies partly in representing polysemic words that have specific connotations attributed arbitrarily by the practitioners of a particular tradition. One such term is rūpam, which...