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2018

Arles, France

Contemplation

Les Rencontres d’Arles Photography Festival

Designed for Les Rencontres d’Arles Photography Festival 2018, the Contemplation Pavilion was conceived as an immersive architectural space for Matthieu Ricard’s large-format photography exhibition, reinforcing themes of reflection, impermanence, and the natural world.

Designed to be lightweight yet monumental, the structure was engineered for disassembly and reuse, ensuring that the materials and craftsmanship could live beyond the duration of the exhibition. The result was an architecture that embraced both transience and permanence, providing a striking yet understated setting for Ricard’s meditative imagery.

Materials & Construction

The pavilion's Guadua bamboo was used green due to time constraints, requiring a custom metal joinery system instead of wooden dowels to accommodate shrinkage. Each joint was cast in three standardized sizes to fit natural diameter variations, with metal connections and tensioned steel cables ensuring stability while maintaining flexibility. The reciprocal frame system allowed the structure to stand self-supported without excessive anchoring. Prefabricated in Colombia, the components were precisely cut and dimensioned before being shipped to France for installation under Vinci Construction and CE Ingénierie. The pavilion’s modular, transportable design balanced the organic qualities of bamboo with structural efficiency, enabling both disassembly and reuse beyond the exhibition.

INFO.

PROGRAM.

INSTALLATION.

LOCATION.

Exhibition Pavilion

Vinci Construction

Arles, France

Contemplation Foundation

CLIENT.

PRODUCTION.

Gigagrass

ENGINEERING.

CE Ingenierie

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