What makes a structure last longer, is it the permanency of the building or the experience that remains while being near that environment?
Temporary structures have undergone major changes over the period. It isn’t just a structure in a garden that serves the purpose of providing a view and shade for the people.
Pavilions and installations have made a place in the field of architecture to serve the world for a better good for the generations to come. They have become a medium for experiential architecture providing a dialogue between the cause and the audience. One has experienced the best of temporary structures across the world, conveying the essence of the place pretty well.
Temporary structures have started to convey a lot more than the aesthetic of the place.
A dialogue between the environment and mankind
Mass is More is an installation that brings mass timber frame innovation to the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona. The concept, created by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) and Bauhaus Earth, intends to develop a conversation between ‘the industrial modernism of the twentieth century and the new low-emission structures of the twenty-first century,’ according to its designers. In response to the excessive CO2 emissions linked with the construction industry, the pavilion demonstrates the beneficial impact that the use of wood and other regenerative materials can have in the fight for sustainable design.
The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture and the Mies van der Rohe Awards are held every two years in the pavilion, demonstrating the importance of the Fundació Mies van der Rohe in the present debate over architecture.
A temporary structure, permanent impact
By 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals anticipate “all youth and a significant number of adults, both men and women, to attain literacy and numeracy.” Around 750 million individuals over the age of 15 are destitute in basic reading and writing abilities. Reading and human literacy have a direct impact on problems like decreased crime, reduced poverty, enhanced health, and increased employment.
The BookWorm pavilion attempts to promote learning by creating an interactive learning place. Children are often intimidated by the most library and institutional structures. The goal was to develop a book landscape that encourages youngsters to explore and learn at the same time. They wanted children to enjoy “reading” as a delightful activity, encouraging them to pick up books and read regardless of language. The pavilion “worms” it’s the way through the surroundings, providing a one-of-a-kind browsing experience along a meandering walk.
The pavilion has a low carbon footprint and promotes sustainable building technologies to hold “reading,” and storytelling activities for the general public. The pavilion was built off-site and installed on-site in less than a week. Several schools throughout the city have contributed books. These books will be given to non-profit organisations and youngsters in need. They hope that the “BookWorm” will carry the message of “empowerment through education” across the country, in both rural and urban places.
Experiential architecture – Eternal affair
Expo 2020 held in Dubai was made to establish an essence of the countries around the world and let people absorb each one of them in a single place by presenting the best of architecture and environment the place has to offer. The ongoing activities, installations, energy and spirit to encounter the marvels created by people around the globe, made that experience worth it. May it be the technologically advanced structure of UAE or the hands-on activity-based installation by Hungary, it had it all in bits and pieces for mankind to absorb and retaliate.
Transitioning into expo city, the Expo 2020 Dubai site will live long after they close the doors at the end of march 2022. At least 80% of the Expo-built infrastructure, including LEED Gold and Platinum-certified buildings, will be reused in this sustainable, human-centric smart city. The original concept of the expo to be an environment for connecting, creating, and innovating will be maintained and fulfilled as an integrated mixed-use community.
By provoking and addressing important topics like climate change, responsible production, circular economies, and ethical fashion, Expo 2020 hopes to inspire each visitor to go out on a meaningful path after the event to keep looking for communal answers to global problems as a result of innovation and collaboration.
Expo 2020, with all its infrastructure, technologies, and collaborations, serves as a model for a viable future, setting sustainable benchmarks and leaving a significant legacy for future generations. The world aims to create a cleaner, safer, and healthier future.
The emotional flow one goes through while one experiences the moment of attachment to the built environment has a permanent space in one’s mind, adding an extra wrinkle to the brain making the immersion of the soul the everlasting tendency to stay.
Temporary is the new permanent
Whether a structure speaks for a natural cause, a social cause or even has a dialogue with the environment, each temporary structure tends to have permanency in origin. They may not be permanent in the built or might not last long enough but in some way or the other, they alter the ways we see this world and behave. The response we generate towards routine actions emerges in a way that remains.
References
After expo 2020 What happens after Expo 2020 | Expo 2020 Dubai. Available at: https://www.expo2020dubai.com/en/understanding-expo/after-expo2020 (Accessed: December 4, 2022).
Chlsey (2021) Bookworm Pavilion / Nudes, ArchDaily. ArchDaily. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/965307/bookworm-pavilion-nudes (Accessed: December 4, 2022).
Stathaki, E. (2022) Architectural pavilions: Architects packing a big punch with small structures, wallpaper.com. Wallpaper*. Available at: https://www.wallpaper.com/gallery/architecture/bold-architectural-pavilions-and-temporary-structures (Accessed: December 4, 2022).
