IwamotoScott was commissioned in summer 2020 to design an exhibition pavilion with a design as future facing as our earlier Jellyfish House project. The building will serve as an information and learning center for the large new masterplanned district now under way in the Sichuan Province, Chengdu Future Science and Technology Town. The Pavilion is currently in construction.
The siting situates the pavilion relative to the three main aspects of this rapidly transforming context: the new Tianfu International Airport to the northeast, Future Science and Technology Town to the south, and Jiangxi River Park to the west.The Pavilion's trefoil-like form directly responds to views out twoard three main aspects of the surrounding context. The accompanying lookout tower is related in its form and rotated to a complimentary position in plan. Pavilion and Tower form a pair prominently visible from the new highway.
The Pavilion's lifted form accommodates a breezeway leading to the entrance, lobby, cafe, meeting rooms and grand stair connecting to the main exhibition hall on the second level. The cafe spills out to an outdoor cafe terrace on the southwest side. This site-specific form relates to the fractal nature of the surrounding landscape of rolling hillocks, while containing a dynamic void at the heart of the building, that showcases nature and technology together. The central atrium/court is conceived as a translation of the traditional courtyard typology.
Lofted ruled-surface geometries define the surfaces of both the building's base and its roof - twisting to negotiate the limited site footprint at the ground and the triangular viewing terrace at the roof. The building skin strategically adapts to create porosity in certain locations - to integrate ventilation and bring in filtered daylight to the interior.
