The following project was completed during my internship with Monadnock Architects, a Rotterdam based Dutch Architectural Firm. The project entailed the design of a twenty-five metre tall temporary pavilion and seating structure.

The structure itself was the standard bearer for the 25th Festival a/d Werf in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Completed in 2010, the structure formed the central pivot of the theatre festival and towered high above the heart of the festival in the centre of the Neude Square.

Written across the structure was the provocative message ‘MAKE NO LITTLE PLANS’, a fragment of text taken from a passage attributed to the great American Architect Daniel Burnham (1846 - 1912).

The full text reads: “Make no little plans. They have no magic within them to stir mens blood and probably themselves will not be realised. Make big plans, aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram, once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon be beauty. Think big.”

Whist the structure itself was temporary, it was intended that the pavilion would announce itself in a way that would leave a lasting impression. The ethos of the office, derived much from the attitudes expressed by architects associated with the Chicago School, as is perhaps already made evident  by the offices name. The idea of ‘permanence’ was fundamental. The challenge then was twofold. In the first instance it was our express intention to satisfy the clients needs and to create a popular structure that functioned well and that enhanced the festival experience. In the second instance it was our intention to reconcile the ethos of ‘big plans’ with the ephemeral nature of the festival.

After much deliberation a scaffold structure was thought to be the most appropriate solution. The scaffold allowed both a speedy construction and the opportunity to make something sizeable. Looking to  similar structures built in West Germany during the cold war, we eventually decided on a structure that would encompass both a a bar/pavilion at ground level and a seating area above. The bar would act as the focal point for the wider festival and the seating area above would service the main stage that would sit directly in front of the pavilion.

The project itself was short in duration. The brief was not overly complex. It did however present certain challenges, most notably how to translate a meaningful idea into a legible architectural structure. The degree to which an individual project is successful in this regard can only be tested through occupation and use. And in this case we were fortunate. The challenge of ‘translation’ however remains universal to all architectural endevour. And in this sense the project serves as a valuable experience.