Tonkin Liu cultivates 'flower' pavilion for London Festival of Architecture

This is the first image of London-based Tonkin Liu's portable steel pavilion, which will move around the five 'Festival Hubs' at this year's London Festival of Architecture, which runs from 20 June to 20 July.
Dubbed the Fresh Flower, the 11-petal structure has been developed by event sponsor Corus and can be reconfigured to suit its location around the five hubs: Camden and Bloomsbury, Clerkenwell and City, Southwark and Southbank, Kensington and Chelsea, and Canary Wharf and Thames Gateway.

The 4.3m-tall pavilion will be lit by LEDs running up the central stalk and visitors will be able to enter through gaps between the petals.

Describing the scheme, practice founder Anna Liu said: '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.'

Author: Richard Waite.

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