Most architectural typologies come with a list of non-negotiable requirements that must be met to successfully execute the project. While these structures do permit innovations, the extent of experimentation in such cases is remitted or absorbed within the paramount frameworks laid out in favour of designating optimum space for specific activities. On the other hand, innovations undertaken within laboratories or art installations displayed in museums and galleries, manage to express intrinsic ideas, however, they remain inaccessible to a major chunk of the public.

Nonetheless, there are a few infrastructural initiatives that manage to fulfil the experimental and artistic urges of the maker, while also casting an enduring presence in the public arena. These entities often fall outside the realm of outfits governed by laws. They exist either to activate public realms and serve as bold landmarks or are propped up by individuals to invite introspection. Such structures, usually devoid of a designated function, serve as grounds for both creative expression and material experimentation. Their installation in the public space facilitates humane interactions with and around them.

STIR enlists a series of such pavilion designs and public installations that STIRred 2023.

1. Kiosk Obelisk by Ulf Mejergren Architects

Kiosk Obelisk is a permanent public art work, proposed by Stockholm-based eponymous art and architecture studio Ulf Mejergren Architects, to be installed in the public square located in front of the city hall of Knivsta in Sweden. As the name of the art sculpture suggests, its form is inspired by that of the archaic obelisk, which traces its origin back to ancient Egypt. "An obelisk is a landmark in its purest form. It is celebratory and since the idea was to salute the town's rich rural heritage, we decided to be very literal about it and even made the obelisk out of the components that are synonymous with the countryside: red traditional cottages. The obelisk is a big city typology but the components that it is made of are from a small town—a duality that is just what Knivsta is experiencing at the moment,” shares Swedish architect Ulf Mejergren with STIR. Abstractions of the rural cottages are stacked on top of each other, in diminishing size, to attain the form of a tapering obelisk.

2. Pavilion X by Marc Leschelier

Paris-based architect and sculptor Marc Leschelier’s Pavilion X is his latest foray on the path where he utilises architecture as a metalanguage to convey aspects about the discipline that vex him. France-based Leschelier, trained as an architect, now utilises his learnings and observations to give form to structures that exist outside the compliance of functioning as habitable spaces. The French architect and sculptor scours spaces that are exempted from urban regulations, to utilise the "construction process as a visualisation of one of architecture’s inner dimensions: the union in the masonry of opposing materials, the fluid and solid matter, the brick and the mortar." His work, an expression of dualities that pervade the discipline of architecture, seeks to raise the question: what can architecture be if it is not designed for use?

3. Java and Jam by i/thee

Java and Jam, conceived by New York-based i/thee, are experimental pavilions that utilise the usage of formworks comprised primarily of coffee grounds and grape pomace. The project seeks to emulate archaic construction using contemporary sustainable materials. Java and Jam are clad in biocomposite material mixtures that are composed of spent coffee grounds and white grape skins, respectively. Developed as modern renditions of the wattle-and-daub construction, the experimental pavilions—constructed in forms that seek to emulate some of the more difficult shapes in construction, that is, curves—serve as the ground for the exploration of organic material mixtures and their potential as a prominent building material in current times.

4. Black Pavilion by Fabian A Wagner

Designed by German architect Fabian Alexander Wagner of Buero Wagner, the Black Pavilion is a versatile, polyfunctional, flexible, site-independent and rebuildable wooden structure that can serve the purpose of an exhibition space, kiosk, bar, meditation area, performance station, and more. It can serve as a juncture in a largely unbuilt space, or become the center of attention when hosting events worthy of attention. Monochromatic, geometric and customisable, the wooden architecture bears the potential to fit well in an array of locales. Its subtle and unpatterned hue ensures that the activities platformed at this station remain the highlight in the area. On the other hand, the sharpness of the pavilion architecture stands out and attracts attention when placed against organically structured accoutrements from the natural or man-made world. Whether the structure stands solitary or with the object of serving a function, it manages to command a presence worthy of attention.

5. LAMA pavilion by Pezo von Ellrichshausen

LAMA pavilion is a monolithic structure that emerges in the midst of the wilderness that pervades Yungay, in Chile. The LAMA pavilion, conceived by Pezo von Ellrichshausen, in Chile, South America, is built using reinforced concrete (made and poured in situ) and extends up to the height of 15 metres. A spiral staircase made with steel rebars serves as the path for circulation within the structure. The LAMA offers spanning views of its proximal landscape, which is scantily populated, by a few farmers and fewer structures. The architecture pavilion, which serves a lookout tower and a space for contemplation, fulfils the function of a landmark in this exiguously inhabited terrain. The name of the pavilion comes from the Spanish word ‘lama,’ which is further derived from the Latin word ‘lamina,’ which means ‘a slim plate.’ The term refers to the horizontal slab that divides the tower into two halves. This slab serves as an eave for the lower tower, casting its shadow upon the vertical structure throughout the day, like ‘a permanent cloud.’ On the other hand, the platform functions as both the floor and terrace for the upper half of the tower. “Floor and roof become a horizontal plate that sits halfway the elevation, a thin plane cantilevered in every cardinal direction,” the studio explains.

Learning from the small to pave way for the big

Public installations and pavilions serve various purposes. Small in scale, they usually demand less space, can be made using limited materials and restrained capital. This, in turn, gives the maker more agency, in configuring a design off their own accord. Hence, such constructions can serve as the testing ground for innovations that one might intend to implement on a larger scale. These structures, positioned in public arenas, also bear the potential of benefitting from user and visitor feedback. They possess the potential of serving as landmarks, which, in turn, can help re-configure and reinvigorate public squares. On the other hand, pavilion designs can function as seats for dissent, wherein the maker can express their rhetoric by means of bold iconography and cultural references, or, perhaps, superimpose iconic public installations with art that negates its palette and draws focus to extant distresses.

STIRred 2023 wraps up the year with compilations of the best in architecture, art, and design from STIR. Did your favourites make the list? Tell us in the comments!