When I think of a cloud, it is fuzzy, light, and temporal. Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects’ design for the Cloud Pavilion in Shanghai exemplifies those characteristics.
It is a structure of hundreds of hanging white ropes. The lightweight boundaries make the space an interactive one, reacting to winds as well as the movement and interaction of people, making it an ever-changing space.
Photography by Peter Dixie / Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
The pavilion also celebrates interwoven concepts and symbols. It is part of a series of scattered pavilions that make connections to the culture. The Cloud is a symbol of fortune in Chinese culture, and the other pavilions house supporting functions like a café, a gallery, and a book shop. The other pavilions are made of corten steel, an allusion to the industrial area they reside in and to the region’s manufacturing heritage.
As well as providing a space for contemplation and relaxation, the Cloud Pavilion with its supplementary corten pavilions, provide texturally rich interactive social spaces as part of the West Bund Biennial for Architecture and Contemporary Art 2013.
Photography by Peter Dixie / Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
By:Aiysha Alsane
I am a designer, artist, and writer. My curiosity has led me on various explorations. My education at Virginia Tech has fostered this curiosity, where I've obtained a B.Arch with minors in Industrial Design and Landscape Architecture. Writing with Arch2O has brought me joy because it channels my interests. I take up these interests and carry this sense of wonder with me on my professional career.