Month: July 2023

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

‘A Natural Pavilion’ is a representation of the design studio ReVærk’s housing concept ‘NaturligRækkerne’ carried out as part of the ‘4to1 planet’ project which is funded by the Realdania and Villum Fonden foundations. The pavilion is thus part of the Sustainable Development Goals-pavilions initiated by the Danish Association of Architects and the UIA World Congress of Architects 2023 in collaboration with Copenhagen Municipality and City & Harbour.

My journey with this assignment didn’t start in the usual way, although perhaps, looking back, it should go like this every time. A friend of mine, whom I met at the book club, called me saying he wanted to buy a house. We did the viewing together. It took us two and a half hours by train to get there. The friend’s choice was driven by a reasonable commute by public transport but was also looking for a quiet place. First, I was not convinced – to start with, it wasn’t in the mountains as one would expect but in our Slovakian lowland. However – once there I immediately fell in love with this place and so did he. Simple structure, a classic cube with an extension into the garden. The building was in the “original state” as the real estate agent would say but had tons of character.

Two Buildings in the Pottery Factory: Roof Structure of the Dragon Kiln and ICH Lounge. At the end of 2021, when the architect was invited by the chief planner of the project, the founder of Sanbao International Ceramics Art Village, the Distinguished Professor of Jingdezhen Ceramic University, ceramicist LI Jianshen, to visit the site of Doumu Pottery, the factory has been undergoing a comprehensive upgrade. The design brief we have received consisted of the construction and renovation of two buildings: the ICH Lounge for which the foundation had already been excavated and therefore the location of the building outline and its structures had been determined; and the asbestos tile roofed dragon kiln, in urgent need of renewal to satisfy the requirements of soundness and aesthetics for a roof structure and to accommodate new functions as well.

This project includes an eating and drinking space where visitors can enjoy light meals made from local ingredients by kitchen cars and a designed building that is under a “Kawara” tiled roof, with a backyard and restrooms necessary for operation, and a plaza to welcome people.