The Pavilion of Reflections
Manifesta 11, what people do for money
Zürich, Switzerland, 2016
hub, central meeting point, open-air art cinema, bar/restaurant, inner- and outer bathing areas, roofed graders, sundeck, tower
*170t wood and steel, 600qm, capacity 400 visitors, 28sqm day-light led screen
*designed and partially build by students of Studio Tom Emerson, ETH Zürich under coordination of Boris Gusic and Adi Heusser.
* program: 28 films ( +- 10 min each) on the development of the new comissions are being produced and directed by film students of Zürich art faculty, ZHDK.
Project development and coordination on behalf of Manifesta 11: Thomas Engelbert
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Pavilion of Refections, Manifesta 11, lake Zürich near Bellevue, 2016
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In June 2015, a year prior to the M11-opening, first considerations arise, that the show is becoming scattered, conceptually and in sense of territory, requiring a heart piece, ideally located in the center of the city, which is physically the lake.
In September the Studio Tom Emerson, ETH Zürich, declares interest to develop and execute a Pavilion of Reflections as their yearly student-project.
A few weeks later first ideas are presented, budget calculations sum 2-3 million CHF, a minimum working budget of 500K is asigned, sponsor and partner recruitment is initialised and 32 ETH students start working on the design of the different facets of the Pavilion.
The warm and dry summer generates a bark-beetle epedemy, more wood should be cut than the market absorbes, city and kantonal forest authrorities grant Manifesta 11 300qm of round-wood. In November 2015 a regional wood-mill extracts, dries and cuts the wood into the required dimensions for the construction. A main sponsor (EKZ) is won and contracted.
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| final model of the Pavilion of Reflections by Studio Tom Emerson, ETH Zürich, December 2015 |
In December a group of students supported by a small team of professional carpenters start building modules for the pavillion-structure in an external work shop. The german steel builders Pichler Stahl, wishing to lay anchor in Switzerland, enter as sponsor for the steel grid structure to ensemble the pontoons and to which the wooden constructions are attached.
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construction site Mythenquai Zürich, March 2015
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| pontoon + support structure for the Pavilion of Reflections, Mythenquai, Zürich, March 2016 |
A container with sanitary facilities is already in place, the graders are build above and around it, the space below the bleachers is used for services, storage, lockers and technical room, mainly to control video screening and sound.
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| Pavilion of Reflections, under construction, Mythenquai, Zürich, March 2016 |
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| Pavilion of Reflections, under construction, Mythenquai, Zürich, March 2016 |
End May 2016: The 80% build Pavillion is pulled over the lake to it´s definite position near Bellevue. A 50 m long pier has already been placed on beforehand, bridge-points are being laid, the compound is connected to the cities sweet and dark-water system, to electricity, internet and all further infrastructures are being implemented.
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| water builders Stäubli working on bridge-point between the pier and the Pavilion |
The Pavillon gets ready just on time and is first opened to public on the professional and press-preview days of the Biennial on the 9th of June 2016.
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| The Manifesta 11 Pavilion of Reflections, next Bellevue, Zürich, June 2016 |
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| visitors watching M11 screening at Pavilion of Reflections, Zürich, 2016 |
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| documentation on the development of the venue being screened on the Pavilion of Reflections, Zürich, 2016 |
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| Pavilion of Reflections, on a cloudy summer day, Manifesta 11, Zürich, 2016 |
October 2016: After Manifesta11 The pavilion is used by the Zürich Film Festival.
Attemps by local enteties to take over the pavilion, transport and maintain it for upcoming years at different locations on the lake fail and the platform is being dismantled.
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| last view, Pavilion of Reflections is being removed for dismantling, Zürich, October 2016 |
During the 100 days of the Biennial the Pavilion of Reflections attracts more than 1.000.000 visitors and becomes the most visited venue in the manifesta history.