For the Cempasúchil Pavilion, COLAR Colectivo de Arquitectura posits that the identity of an object is not determined by its material condition, but by the intention with which it is used. The straw bales become seats, creating a spatial order for collective use, which, after dismantling, revert to their agricultural function.
The lightweight, self-supporting structure is built entirely with corrugated steel rods, which support six modules of textile canvas that define the pavilion's geometry, allowing for an open and permeable relationship between the interior and the surrounding environment, offering shade and shelter in a reversible relationship with its context.
Cempasúchil Pavilion by COLAR Colectivo de Arquitectura. Photograph by Edgar García.
Project description by COLAR Colectivo de Arquitectura
The pavilion arose from the need to create a temporary structure capable of providing shade and shelter for a period of four days. Conceived as a meeting place, it is organized around a single shared table, where different groups of people gather throughout the day, fostering informal encounters and collective occupation. Beyond its functional requirements, the project explores architecture as a temporary act of spatial organization.
Located in a rural pasture, the project takes its surroundings as its direct starting point. The straw bales, commonly used as feed for the horses and mares that inhabit the area, become the conceptual foundation of the pavilion. The project posits that the identity of an object is not determined by its material condition, but by the intention with which it is used. Arranged around a shared table, the straw bales temporarily cease to be food and become seats, constructing the spatial order that makes collective occupation possible. With the dismantling of the pavilion, they relinquish this architectural role and revert to their agricultural function. Ephemeral architecture, therefore, does not reside in the object itself, but in the intentional act that redefines its condition through space and use.
A lightweight, self-supporting structure, built entirely from 3/8-inch corrugated steel rebar, spans the straw bales and supports six textile canvas modules. Simply draped over the structure, the fabric defines the pavilion's geometry while maintaining an open and permeable relationship between the interior and the surrounding landscape.
The resulting space offers shade during the day and transforms at night into a softly lit refuge. Rather than imposing itself on the site, the pavilion establishes a reversible relationship with its context, in which familiar agricultural elements are temporarily repurposed to produce architecture before discreetly returning to their everyday function.
