In London’s Battersea Park, Pump House Gallery has realized a temporary pavilion designed by NEON made from colorful, flexible duct pipes. As part of the Wandsworth Arts Fringe, the Pump House Pavilion was realized through working with arts specialist students from Chestnut Grove Academy in Balham, who’s inspiring and vivid minds were a key component in helping to conceive the pavilion design.
The aspiration was for the designers to make a site-specific response and explore the relationship between the Pump House, the park and the temporary pavilion.
The pavilion celebrates the pipes that used to flow from the Pump House out into Battersea Park. The architectural form is created through a series of repeated distorting arches, designed to reference the classic brick arch, including the iconic front entrance of the Pump House. The students suggested a form that would lead people in and encourage a sense exploration. Different coloured pipes are used to create a hypnotic “op-art” effect, intended to lure the public into the pavilion. Inside the Pavilion spools for storing pipes are used to form seating and tables to further celebrate the use of everyday construction materials.
The aim with this project was to demonstrate how art and design together with the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) could deliver creative opportunities for young people in Wandsworth. The designers and engineers engaged with pupils from Chestnut Grove in the creation of the pavilion, exposing them to the realities of an architectural project and the different roles required to deliver them.
all images and video courtesy of NEON