OFFICE 310
AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE (MODEL) – Cambridge
A temporary structure was commissioned by Harvard University for its Cambridge campus. OFFICE chose to make a pavilion and place it under the slender rounded columns of the entrance portico of Gund Hall, the 1970s brutalist building that houses the department of architecture. The pavilion was conceived as a steel structure of beams and columns that carried a grid of lights and three objects: (a model of) a technical box, (a model of) a solar panel and (a model of) an American flag. Over the year it stood on the campus, students were encouraged to organise different kinds of events. Evoking the tradition of a soapbox, the pavilion provided a dedicated space for public debate.
Year
2019 – 2023
Location
Cambridge, US
Type
Culture, Education, Public
Status
Built
Surface
145 m2
Client
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Collaborator(s)
UTIL Struktuurstudies, hp engineers, Chris Pype
Design team
Kersten Geers, David Van Severen, Jan Lenaerts, Inga Karen Traustadóttir, Leander Venlet
Photographs
Justin Knight