This week’s curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights cultural structures submitted by the ArchDaily Community. From pavilions to installations, this article explores the topic of cultural urban interventions and presents approaches submitted to us from all over the world.
Featuring a pavilion nestled in the sand dunes of the Persian desert, an afrofuturistic, interactive art installation proposed for the upcoming Burning Man event, and a new take on summer cinemas in Russia, this roundup explores how architects reimagined traditional gathering places and created urban interventions in all scales. The round up also includes a collection of structures in the United Arab Emirates, United Sates of America, France, and the United Kingdom, each responding to different contexts and topographies.
Read on to discover 10 curated projects showcasing pavilions, plazas, and installations all over the world, along with their descriptions from the architects.
Barilla Pavilion
An architectural proposal for a pavilion that provides space for experimentation, encouraging discussion and debate concerning the future of food, our landscapes and the communities that live in them, through a program of educational and cultural initiatives encompassing art and research. The interior of the proposed pavilion has been arranged in an open plan layout to provide flexibility but also to promote interaction and collaboration. All the events that are taking place and the different spaces will be open and visible, inviting visitors to explore and participate. The dramatic roof with the elliptical roof lights will provide the ideal backdrop for this research building providing a unique experience, combining gastronomy, history, art and culture.
Majlis
The ‘Majlis’ is a predominant spatial typology in Gulf residences. Built typically as an annex to the house, it is a space of social gathering and interaction typically used to receive guests and is designed to be detached from the private quarters of the family in Emirati homes. With the advent of concrete 3D printing technologies, new modular strategies can be envisioned in-line with the challenges and potentials of these technologies to allow for faster, more spatially fluid inhabitations at an ecological and affordable rate. MEAN* reimagines the spatial qualities of this typology with 3 options for the space depending on the requirements and lifestyle of its inhabitants: The Capsule Pod, Fluid Space, and Folded Walls.
Meccano
The project for the new festival pavilion chooses to act with a light hand on the delicate context of the public spaces settled in time, intervening with respect and discretion. It does not destroy, it enriches; does not erase, if anything, reread, with attention and lightness. Rather than a simple building, we prefer to think of an open and flexible, alterable, convertible, integral or even completely replaceable "system" when it runs out of vital energy within the social structure and its methods of self-representation. Yes, because contemporary design can no longer ignore the crucial consideration of the time variable: in an age when every transformation is fast and potentially overwhelming, what seems indispensable to us today may no longer be so in a few years' time, what seems right and desirable to us now may no longer seem like one in a short time.
Nebula Tower
CO-MILIEU + HKS
Co-Milieu’s design proposal, Nebula Tower, nurtures artistic expression using the ephemeral mediums of time and light. This architectural framework integrated into its landscape is designed to reflect the innovative, risk-embracing spirit that has defined Silicon Valley throughout this past century. It aspires to contribute to contemporary design discourse by redefining what a civic landmark can and should be.
New Plasco
Many of the architectural works present in the city evoke shared memories of people from different generations living in the society. Symbols and signs, characteristics and components of architectural works, could all be associated with pleasant and unpleasant incidents in people’s lives. The new Plasco building would be a contemporary architecture, responsive to the users’ needs. Besides, as a memorial, it would narrate what happened to the city and the former Plasco building. The new Plasco would be reminiscent of the original building through the continuity of the architectural elements.
Roosevelt Pavilion
For the City of Dreams Pavilion, we spent a lot of time considering borrowed materials in terms of our architecture practice and the sustainability movement. The idea of borrowing materials is intriguing, but at first seemed to be antithetical to the broader built environment which is meant to be more permanent than a summer pavilion. We then considered wood which has a renewable life cycle, from tree, to the built environment, and finally biodegrading back into nature. This re-framed our idea of wood as a material that is essential borrowed for a time from nature and, combined with sustainable forestry, can be an important building material as part of a sustainable construction industry. Wood is essentially the ultimate borrowed material.
Sandy-Darak Pavilion
The topography of sand dunes in these areas adds spectacular attractions to this area. Given this amazing sandy desert, our best design option is to be inspired by the nature. We designed this Project considering the traditional architecture of the region, which is affected by the maximum sunlight and high temperature during the day. Furthermore, we were inspired by the curvature and fluidity of sand dunes, in addition to the traditional construction methods for the fictile embowed houses. Our design team has utilized an innovative construction method using 3D printing, which can use endemic materials, such as clay and sand, with a layer-by-layer method and create the form without any harm or disruption to the environment and the natural surrounding.
Garage Screen 2020
The space of the new pavilion can change over time, creating new scenarios for the use of space, due to transforming sides. With the help of a velvet curtain, the pavilion can include the space of the entire art area in the open state during the day, and create favorable, comfortable conditions for watching a movie in the evening. One of the values of the summer cinema is to watch a movie in the open air; the conserved oculus is responsible for this, which regulates the amount of natural light entering the pavilion. Interaction with visitors takes place through a kiosk that appears on one of the facades of the pavilion. A media screen and separate garbage storage are also integrated into the body of the kiosk. Labels with text hanging over a velvet curtain explain the concept of the GARAGE SCREEN 2020 pavilion.
The Solar Shrine Project
The Solar Shrine is an Afrofuturistic, interactive art installation for Burning Man 2021 which is inspired by the magical realism of Ancient Egypt and Nubia. The project seeks to educate people from around the world at Burning Man about the subject of Afrofuturism and the art and architecture from this region of Africa, as well as serve as a space which will be activated by artists performing at the festival.
Verdon Balconies
Christophe Benichou Architectures
"Verdon balconies" is a resting space for climbers installed in the mythical gorges of Verdon. Since the 1960s, this canyon in the South of France has become a must-see climbing site because of its unique depth in Europe and the quality of its limestone rock. Majestic and vertiginous, the Verdon cliffs stretch up to 700m high, offering a playground as noble as impressive.
HOW TO SUBMIT AN UNBUILT PROJECT
We highly appreciate the input from our readers and are always happy to see more projects designed by them. If you have an Unbuilt project to submit, click here and follow the guidelines. Our curators will review your submission and get back to you in case it is selected for a feature.
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