Celebrating Paddington Central’s first year as a Design Route at the London Design Festival, the design practice Snøhetta created a rotating book pavilion for British Land. Snøhetta wanted to create a project that would reimagine the traditional principles of a library through a mechanized pavilion that generates varied spatial types. Designed for visitors to immerse themselves into a world of books, the pavilion encourages exploration, interaction and reflection.
The mechanical, rotating pavilion of oversized books flips to create both quiet and extroverted spaces. Standing inside the structure, visitors can reflect on the build and its inner workings. Located in Kingdom Street, the installation was designed to highlight British Land’s commitment to delivering spaces where people can work, relax and socialize. To be erected as part of the city festival, the pavilion aims to create an interactive space for uncovering the world of literature. The idea was for people to fully immerse themselves and live the story.
As Snøhetta explained, "the giant life size pages bring the pavilion to life, and allows the community to have a space where they can also tell stories." The rotating, mechanized elements will include books with individual inserts to encourage readers to pass on the publications. Snøhetta hopes that visitors will be able to track a book's journey and uncover how the pavilion was fabricated and assembled.
The pavilion will open on September 13, 2018 as a permanent installation.
