Winner: Realino Tan

Project Summary

The brief for this project is based on the discussions of three positions of architectural making (or schools of thought); Civic Narrative, Poetics and Technics. There exist documented evidence from some of the world's foremost educators in architecture (van Schaik, L. 2005. Mastering Architecture: Becoming a Creative Innovator in Practice. Chichester: Wiley- Academy.)that these schools of thought actually exist.It is not a perfect system of classification, and some practitioners fall into two or even three of the groups, however, it is a useful way of looking into the architectural realm and a useful tool in the designing of architecture.

While all brick buildings are solid physically, only a few inspire the emotions of being inside a solid structure. This is because the abolishment of ornamentation in modern architecture brings forth thin, planar walls whose inner and outer surfaces, or 'skins', are parallel to each other. Through the simple act of patterning on the outer skin and pyramidal buttressing, and otherwise, in the inner, a tension between the outer and inner skin is achieved – enhancing the experience of both interiority and exteriority. Also, reciprocally, the negative space, that is the wall itself, becomes of the experiential – a mass.

The technics school of thought favours craft, for the sake of craft. Individual bricks do not make architecture; it is in how they are assembled, in how one is placed in relation to another, that architecture becomes physical. In this project, bricks make up a diamond form, these diamond forms make up the pavilion and tidal pool and the building interacts with its environment; the strong Burns Beach light casts a strong light and shadow, animating the built forms, precipitation trickles down between the micro-topography created by the forms on the pavilion's walls, water settles to a plumb level in the pools' inverted pyramidal patterning and the ocean engulfs the diamond forms on the edge of the platform, and in time sharp edges of the diamonds become weathered, altering its form – when nature take over crafting the building. It is through these subtle gestures and consciously designed elements that the project recognises its site.

The technics school of thought also places emphasis on performance. In terms of the planning of functions, the functional, or 'served' spaces, of the pavilion are planned in the western side to maximise the view toward the Indian Ocean and the horizon, and the service, or 'servant' spaces to the east. These two categories of spaces are separated by a circulatory breezeway. Storage facilities in the public rooms are built into walls to increase the perception of depth in the walls, experienced as users walk into the public rooms. Tidal pools are located separately to the pavilion, along the shoreline. Shower booths, change booths and toilet facilities are found on the pool platform.The pavilion and pools are linked by a separate structure of a different material – steel – reinforcing the presence of the two masses as 'crafted objects' within the landscape.