PAVILIONS

Went to an inspiring talk that was curated through the Museum of Craft and design for SF Design week. This whole week has opened me up to the large range of design fields and how broad this term "design" really is. In fact Architecture too covers quite a large spectrum of different theories, philosophies, approaches and schools of thought. In this talk Future Cities Lab (shown above, with Situ Studio in the background) described there immense collection of studies, prototypes and intricate models exploring how a form, concept or idea can actually be conceived, detailed and developed. These ethereal forms were part of a design competition for a pavilion in the 2004 Athens Olympics. It never got built unfortunately but the concept carried on to other interesting public installations, artwork, and pavilions. Carmody Groarke (below) spoke about how clients often approach 
him with an idea in mind, but once he begins thinking and talking to them - with the utmost appreciation and respect - he is often able to convince them of what he feels is a far more exciting idea - and most of the time they agree! This amazing little space was temporary dining pavilion seated atop a parking garage and framing interesting views of the city as each room is served a fine dining experience. Doris Sung of Dosu Studio showed this incredible piece and also a dense series of process prototypes and study models. Bloom, as it is called (also shown below) was an installation designed for a semi-public space in Silverlake, Los Angeles. The design was developed to be a self-standing undulating surface composed of thermobimetal strips that are fixed in one direction but allowed to curl as a result of the material's properties as the temperature rises. These incredible installations and the others shown today reinforced my feeling that temporal architecture is where the heart of innovation lies. The ability to prototype and take risks allows for these pieces to really push what our current understanding of architecture is and create truly unforgettable experiences in the process.