Kéré’s pavilion will serve as a communal gathering space nestled in a grove of aspen and cottonwood trees between the Olivier Music Barn and Daydreams, the willow-clad schoolhouse created by sculptor Patrick Dougherty. The scheme can be read as an evolution of Kéré’s canopy structures, 2015 canopy structure for the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art near Copenhagen and his 2017 Serpentine Pavilion in London, the pavilion will be built with logs from local ponderosa and lodgepole pine. Imagine a round structure with seating areas beneath a log canopy that filters and dapples the sunlight. Visitors can gather within, or climb onto a platform sculpted at the canopy’s top to take in the landscape through aspen and cottonwood leaves. For children, there will be a carved “color cave” tunnel. The shape of the seating area—an irregular loop—is inspired in part by a series of paintings, created by artist and Tippet Rise cofounder Cathy Halstead, based on the lyrical, abstract forms of microscopic life.
Standing on the high meadow of Tippet Rise Art Center, looking out at the mountains under a vast sky, people can face nature at its widest scale. But with this pavilion, Tippet Rise offers a more intimate experience of its landscape within a quiet shelter, where people can access the most secret part of nature: the heart of the trees. I am honored that Peter and Cathy have invited me to contribute to their magnificent art center, and I am deeply grateful for their generosity in linking the creation of this pavilion to the construction of a new school in my home of Burkina Faso,” said of the new pavilion, Francis Kéré.
The scheme was inspired by the traditional “togunas” of Mali’s Dogon culture, featuring sacred shelters with wooden pillars, and layers of wood and millet straw to form a roof. In tandem with the pavilion’s construction, the Tippet Rise Fund and Sidney E. Frank Foundation are also supporting the construction of Francis Kéré’s newly-designed school in Burkina Faso, inspired by the architect’s dedication to sustainability, and scheduled to be completed in 2019.
The Tippet Rise Pavilion consists of ponderosa pine and lodgepole pine logs, arranged in a round structure to create a “rain of light” effect, and sitting across the path of a circular bridge spanning an adjacent stream. The bridge features a number of seating areas positioned to accentuate views across the water, meadows, and hills, while sensitively touching the ground at only two points.
The Tippet Rise Pavilion consists of ponderosa pine and lodgepole pine logs, arranged in a round structure to create a “rain of light” effect, and sitting across the path of a circular bridge spanning an adjacent stream. The bridge features a number of seating areas positioned to accentuate views across the water, meadows, and hills, while sensitively touching the ground at only two points.
The pavilion also features strategically-orientated seating beneath the canopy, where visitors can “gather quietly to converse or contemplate the views or climb onto a platform sculpted on top of the canopy to observe the landscape through the leaves.” The form of the seating area was inspired by a series of paintings created by Tippet Rise co-founder Cathy Halstead based on the lyrical, abstract forms of microscopic life, communicated through the irregular looping of the pavilion’s seating.
Designed in collaboration with local architecture firm Gunnstock Timber Frames, the scheme is expected to open in the Summer of 2019. When completed, it will join the ranks of other noted architectural works across the Tippet Rise landscape, including several sculptural works by Ensamble Studios.
