The New Pavilions

The pavilion is the architectural form of the moment, enabling emerging architects to make their mark. Often ephemeral and orientated to a specific function, they are less expensive than their more permanent architectural cousins, which allows for more experimentation or inventiveness than in larger structures. Tents, bandstands, displays, places for sitting, listening, seeing, and being seen, pavilions have myriad forms and as many functions. For architects and designers, they offer unique opportunities to experiment with form, construction, material, structure, surface, and texture, often as prototypes for larger buildings or as purely artistic pursuits. A pavilion’s particular location also offers rich possibilities for interaction with the landscapes, streetscapes, and peoplescapes around it. Pavilions can be temples to digital interaction or provide oases of calm and isolation.