Beijing Pavilion
Concept
2013
Beijing, China
240 sqm
China International Architecture Biennial 2013
For the 2013 China International Architecture Biennial, the Beijing Pavilion proposal by Kéré Architecture intended to revive the Olympic Green, the Olympic Park in Beijing’s Chaoyang District, where the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics took place. With the biennial’s theme Beautiful China – My City, My Home, a special focus lay on the different functions and appearances the site takes from morning to evening. Kéré Architecture’s design offered a place to gather and enjoy the public space during Beijing’s sweltering summer.
Francis Kéré drew inspiration from transient shelters and vibrant colours that he studied in the neighbourhoods of Ouagadougou, the capital of his home country Burkina Faso. The Beijing Pavilion’s canopy consists of multicoloured boxes, creating a blanket that is hung over a light carrying structure. The boxes play with light, colour and movement as they interact with one another. Depending on the visitor’s perspective, they generate intricate shadows and colour combinations.
At the ground level, metallic seating elements invite those passing by to stay. Like the small pools of water adjacent to them, they reflect the colours and daylight from above. The pools give visitors an opportunity to rest and refresh their feet. Depending on the climate, mist fills the pavilion and, together with the water pools, turns the place into a cooling refuge from the surrounding heat.
For the 2013 China International Architecture Biennial, the Beijing Pavilion proposal by Kéré Architecture intended to revive the Olympic Green, the Olympic Park in Beijing’s Chaoyang District, where the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics took place. With the biennial’s theme Beautiful China – My City, My Home, a special focus lay on the different functions and appearances the site takes from morning to evening. Kéré Architecture’s design offered a place to gather and enjoy the public space during Beijing’s sweltering summer.
Francis Kéré drew inspiration from transient shelters and vibrant colours that he studied in the neighbourhoods of Ouagadougou, the capital of his home country Burkina Faso. The Beijing Pavilion’s canopy consists of multicoloured boxes, creating a blanket that is hung over a light carrying structure. The boxes play with light, colour and movement as they interact with one another. Depending on the visitor’s perspective, they generate intricate shadows and colour combinations.
At the ground level, metallic seating elements invite those passing by to stay. Like the small pools of water adjacent to them, they reflect the colours and daylight from above. The pools give visitors an opportunity to rest and refresh their feet. Depending on the climate, mist fills the pavilion and, together with the water pools, turns the place into a cooling refuge from the surrounding heat.
