Meta Pavilion

IDEA. The function of the pavilion is not predetermined to any specific use, although it is seen as a public gathering space hosting meetings and other events, maybe the first one to be built in town after the earthquake. For this reason, its symbolic value becomes relevant. Due to the fact that Lebu has based its economy on fishing, we became very fond of the boat as a carrier of symbols. In many mythologies it represents a connection with the celestial bodies and fertility. The ship often symbolizes movement, change and future. The boat has also been a means of travel along the coast of Chile and becomes thus a strong mental connection to the horizon and the territories beyond. But for the people of Lebu, the boat has a practical meaning as well: it is a livelihood, a source of food and income. This is why we thought the pavilion as a boat. A good boat-artisan knows how to create a space and withstand the forces from the water on the outside with the archaic combination of frames and outer planking. We would like to do the same but in reverse: to produce a multifunctional interior space with an outside construction which brings the loads down to the uneven soil. A series of parallel concrete frames are interrupted by an irregular single room. It is a formless and weightless space that rests suspended from the natural setting, with thick wooden seat-windows framing the surrounding landscape. This scheme can be read as a pedagogic gesture; a kind of literal representation of the strength of the building in opposition to the devastating three-dimensional forces of the earthquake. We assume that a good connection to the physical as well as to the mental context is necessary to reach a precise level of temporal autonomy.