{"id":250635,"date":"2025-12-25T10:26:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T10:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/250635\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T10:26:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T10:26:25","slug":"can-architecture-be-fleeting-check-out-these-transient-structures-and-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/250635\/","title":{"rendered":"Can architecture be fleeting? Check out these transient structures and see"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a defunct 1960s cargo pier in the Zhoushan archipelago<\/a>, Zhejiang province, the temporary Seaside Pavilion, built in 2024, stands with a deceptive grace that belies the extreme logistical coordination required to place it there. Prefabricated parts had to be transported to the remote Chaishan island via a multi-stage journey of cargo ships, small trailers and often sheer human effort. The construction team was also frequently forced to perch on surrounding rocks and work with basic handheld machinery.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur inspiration came from nature\u2019s simplest gestures \u2013 branches extending from a forest\u2019s edge, swaying gently in the sea breeze. The pavilion translates that quiet movement of life into architectural form,\u201d says Shen Lijiang, lead designer and managing partner of GN Architects, the Shanghai-based practice that designed the wind-driven kinetic art installation and community social space as part of the \u201cHello, Little Island\u201d government revitalisation initiative. Chaishan, once a thriving village, is now home to just 96 elderly residents.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe kinetic art installation and community social space was designed by GN Architects for a community of just 96 elderly people. Photo: courtesy GN Architects<\/p>\n

The pavilion\u2019s delicate dance with nature, on an unpredictable stage, culminated in a victory, on December 17, at the inaugural RIBA Asia Pacific Awards, where the Royal Institute of British Architects recognised architectural creativity, innovation and excellence in the region. The ceremony, held in Shenzhen, saw 63 finalists, from 13 countries and regions, compete for 10 awards in not only the temporary architecture category but also those that reflect other evolving priorities in the field, notably artificial intelligence-powered design and future projects (unbuilt or conceptual projects that also resolve major societal problems). Hong Kong\u2019s sole finalist, the E.CO Rotunda, was another project underscoring the beauty of impermanence.<\/p>\n

Melvin Tan, founding partner of Laud Architects in Singapore and jury chair for the Temporary Architecture category, describes these creations as \u201cbuildings that have a specific function relating to an event or limited period of time\u201d. The category encompasses installations and short-term structures such as the Seaside Pavilion, which has a lifespan of three to five years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are different requirements and expectations between a temporary building and a permanent one, so a stand-alone category allows the various projects to compete and shine on the same basis and foundation,\u201d he adds. \u201cTemporary architecture is usually not beholden to the array of codes and regulations that permanent structures require and allows architects greater flexibility in their design response to the brief.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Vietnam\u2019sVietnam\u2019s contender for the temporary architecture prize was The Grid, an adaptive reuse project in Hanoi, Vietnam designed by Ad Hoc Practice. Photo: Trieu Chien<\/p>\n

Yet, this very flexibility demanded a resilience that no building code could dictate. The project\u2019s true test arrived when a typhoon struck mid-construction, sweeping materials into the sea. In a moment that defined the pavilion\u2019s purpose, local villagers rescued the drifting components. \u201cThat shared effort \u2013 between designers and residents \u2013 gave the project an even deeper meaning,\u201d says Liu Tong, who was part of the architecture team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a defunct 1960s cargo pier in the Zhoushan archipelago, Zhejiang province, the temporary Seaside Pavilion, built in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[267],"tags":[130315,365,362,363,364,366,130313,18,117,130316,19,17,130318,130319,47136,130311,130314,100723,53200,46403,130320,130312,130317],"class_list":{"0":"post-250635","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-ai-powered-design","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-artsanddesign","12":"tag-artsdesign","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-e-co-rotunda","15":"tag-eire","16":"tag-entertainment","17":"tag-gn-architects","18":"tag-ie","19":"tag-ireland","20":"tag-laud-architects","21":"tag-melvin-tan","22":"tag-riba","23":"tag-rotunda","24":"tag-royal-institute-of-british-architects","25":"tag-sai-kung","26":"tag-temporary-architecture","27":"tag-unesco","28":"tag-walla","29":"tag-yim-tin-tsai","30":"tag-zhoushan-archipelago"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115779730459267773","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}