London Live Arts Pavilion
client: Team London Bridge, budget: £10k, with: Mill & Jones
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The London Live Arts Pavillion served as a performance and workshop space for the Live Arts Festival 2015
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Drawing on the idea of the building as a society of spaces, the design creates a cluster of inhabitable modules topped by a series of polychrome jute cones that gently sway in the summer breeze. The apertures at the top of the cones move gently back and forth, creating a hypnotic tunnel up into the clouds. At ground level, a stepping landscape of plywood furniture elements creates space for performance, workshops & wonder.
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Potters Field is wedged between historic Tower Bridge and the GLA headquarters, two buildings which proclaim permanence and dependability. This year’s Live Arts’ theme of ‘exchange’ has informed the design concept and the reality of the pavilion in use. Natural forces, wind and sun, are an important component in the experience of the pavilion. The pavilion sets a deliberate contrast to the surrounding built heritage. It uses architecture as a tool to engage with the transient qualities of the site, the weather and the ebb and flow of human activity in the city.
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Urbanism works best where it can be perceived at a variety of scales. From across the river the pavilion will act as a temporary landmark for the festival with a flourish of colour contrasting the monochrome skyline. At close range an honesty of materials, visible jointing and the marks from the making process engage the audience through a tactile and sensory experience.
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The theme of exchange has also informed our working method. Architecture is not a solitary pursuit, it relies on teamwork, collaboration and dialogue. A shared interest in the use of making as a form of urban practice has lead Jan Kattein Architects and Mill & Jones to join forces.
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