Mexican architecture studio S-AR has designed three modular wooden pavilions for 11th edition of Momentum Biennale, which took place from June 12 to October 10, 2021 at various venues and sites on the island of Jeløya, in the city of Moss and in the Oslo Fjord in Norway.

The project, called Modular Pavilions, consists of three pavilions: Platform Pavilion, Stairs Pavilion and Cylinder Pavilion – which have different shapes and spatial organizations. 

In response to the Biennale’s theme “HOUSE OF COMMONS” the three temporary pavilions were respectfully placed in the natural landscapes at Alby and in the Alby Park on the island of Jeløya.

The team used natural materials produced from local wood and recycled materials, they were designed to avoid causing any permanent damage. “Each will be used to present projects and performances over the course of the biennale,” the studio explained.

The Platform Pavilion was placed in a dense spruce forest and houses the work of Siri Hermansen, while the Staircase Pavilion is situated below Alby Farm, where a former workers’ home was located, and it houses the work of Daisuke Kosugi. 

The third installation, called the Cylinder Pavilion, is located in Alby Park and will host local projects, mediation, outreach and education activities.

These three wooden structures sitting in the open, surrounded by nature make up the pavilions for the Momentum biennale in its 11th edition.

The intention is for these to be places for interaction, a quiet background for visitors and ideas to converge while presenting a variety of perspectives for meeting its surroundings. 

A particular situation takes place in each pavilion. An enclosed happening meets the open sky at the Cylinder Pavilion, a circular boundary defines inside and outside. 

The discovery of a sieved view at the Stairs Pavilion, a stair contained in a wooden cage. A confrontation between open and closed occurs at the Platform Pavilion, an exhibition space contained in an open lookout.

The constructive quality of these structures is defined by assembly and repetition of components. The main structures are built with single modules made of pine wood studs and planks repeated and positioned to create the enclosure, favoring a simple and logical construction.

Mexican architecture studio S-AR has designed three modular wooden pavilions for 11th edition of Momentum Biennale, which took place from June 12 to October 10, 2021 at various venues and sites on the island of Jeløya, in the city of Moss and in the Oslo Fjord in Norway.

The project, called Modular Pavilions, consists of three pavilions: Platform Pavilion, Stairs Pavilion and Cylinder Pavilion – which have different shapes and spatial organizations. 

In response to the Biennale’s theme “HOUSE OF COMMONS” the three temporary pavilions were respectfully placed in the natural landscapes at Alby and in the Alby Park on the island of Jeløya.

The team used natural materials produced from local wood and recycled materials, they were designed to avoid causing any permanent damage. “Each will be used to present projects and performances over the course of the biennale,” the studio explained.

The Platform Pavilion was placed in a dense spruce forest and houses the work of Siri Hermansen, while the Staircase Pavilion is situated below Alby Farm, where a former workers’ home was located, and it houses the work of Daisuke Kosugi. 

The third installation, called the Cylinder Pavilion, is located in Alby Park and will host local projects, mediation, outreach and education activities.

These three wooden structures sitting in the open, surrounded by nature make up the pavilions for the Momentum biennale in its 11th edition.

The intention is for these to be places for interaction, a quiet background for visitors and ideas to converge while presenting a variety of perspectives for meeting its surroundings. 

A particular situation takes place in each pavilion. An enclosed happening meets the open sky at the Cylinder Pavilion, a circular boundary defines inside and outside. 

The discovery of a sieved view at the Stairs Pavilion, a stair contained in a wooden cage. A confrontation between open and closed occurs at the Platform Pavilion, an exhibition space contained in an open lookout.

The constructive quality of these structures is defined by assembly and repetition of components. The main structures are built with single modules made of pine wood studs and planks repeated and positioned to create the enclosure, favoring a simple and logical construction.

The architects choice pine wood as the main construction material in accordance to both the natural condition of the site and the ephemeral quality of the event. Through time it is intended for wood to decay, to show the effect of the elements and become ever changing structures. 

“Nature elements: light, air, matter, distance…Constructive elements: pieces, platforms, lattices, assembles…Symbolic architecture elements: stairs, windows, doors…Geometric elements: square, triangle, circle, cylinder…”

These are the archetypal concepts present in the project for several pavilions on the island of Jeløya, in Norway.

The three pavilions that expect the generation of different moments of contemplation, perception, appreciation and interpretation of the surroundings as well from the artistic interventions that may dialogue through its vital time.

The three pavilions are proposed as constructive exercises made with different elements of wood with dissimilar arrangements. The creation of a circuit of spaces to stay, rest, lookout, circulations and courses through them; all connected.