May 1 2008
Corus and The London Festival of Architecture have today announced the appointment of Tonkin Liu to design a signature pavilion that will be showcased at this year's festival (20 June – 20 July 2008).
Taking the Festival theme – FRESH - as a starting point, Corus and LFA2008 challenged architects Tonkin Liu to come up with a signature structure that showcases innovative steel design and provides a mobile discussion and debate that will transform key public spaces throughout the Festival period. The structure, known as the Corus Fresh Flower, must be easily demountable so it can move across London to the five different Festival Hubs where it will provide a focal point for activity.
Tonkin Liu’s ‘Fresh Flower’ comprises 11 petals that rise off the ground, arching around a central stalk to create a space within which a moveable stage rotates. Visitors enter the pavilion via gaps between the petals, which can be reconfigured between Festival ‘Hubs’ to provide a different emphasis and focus depending on the event, location or weather. LED lights rising from the stalk will illuminate the pavilion. It will be constructed entirely from Corus products including tube and sheet steel. When erected the floor area of the structure will cover 97m2, with the petals ranging from 2.7 to 4.3 metres high.
Matt Teague, Senior Architect, Corus comments: "Corus is excited to be working with the Festival in the commission of Tonkin Liu to provide a spectacular, thought provoking and inspiring temporary venue. The brief required the architects to use materials appropriately and with restraint; every material, junction and process has been considered. These attributes are applicable across the whole construction industry."
Anna Liu, Director, Tonkin Liu considers the inspiration behind the design: “The challenge was to create a structure that could be re-used at each of the five locations, successfully reflecting the different character of each. Inspiration for the solution came from the age-old precedent set by the Rath Yatra temple in India, part of which is put on huge wooden wheels and paraded amongst a procession across the town once a year. This approach suited the spirit of the Festival – not only will the structure provide a venue for the ‘celebration’ of architecture, the process of the structure arriving and unfurling will itself be an architectural event.”