Pavilion for Scotland, Kolkata, India
Winner, International Competition, 2008
Timber construction has exercised a profound influence upon the traditional architecture of India. For over five hundred years wood was the de facto material of choice for new buildings, leading to the development of a tectonic language that was later translated to, and imitated in, the more durable stone construction that gradually became prevalent.
Following in this tradition we propose an approach for the design of a pavilion for the Scotland and Kolkata Connections programme which combines the development of a tectonic language from contemporary timber construction methods, with the exploration of using textiles made from jute – a material important to the industrialisation of Kolkata and parts of Scotland alike – as a means of defining internal spaces. In doing so we aim to produce a pavilion whose character responds to the local traditions of construction and manufacturing in a meaningful contemporary way.
