New East Digital Archive

This twisting timber pavilion is a must see at Tallinn Architecture Biennale

This twisting timber pavilion is a must see at Tallinn Architecture Biennale
Image: Tõnu Tunnel

26 September 2019

If you’re planning on visiting Estonia’s capital anytime soon, make sure you check out the winning pavilion of this year’s Tallinn Architecture Biennale — a steam-bent timber structure that is a modern twist on steampunk design.

The creators of the pavilion Steampunk — Soomeen Hahm, Igor Pantic, and Fologram’s Gwyllim Jahn and Cameron Newham — used a combination of intelligent holographic technology and primitive hand tools to create its unique shape. The pavilion was built to reflect the tensions that come with manufacturing a design — how much to stick to and diverting from the original concept.

“We wanted to challenge the notion of automation in construction, rethink the role of the human during the design and construction process,” Hahm told The Calvert Journal.

The work was made in response to the theme “Beauty matters”, which aims to “elevate the status of beauty in response to alienating and ecologically unfit built environments”.

Tallinn Architecture Biennale continues until 17 November 2019, but the Steampunk pavilion will remain in place until the biennale’s next edition in 2021.

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