Swiss Team Wins Student Design Competition for 2015 Pan American Games Award Pavilion

 

A group of four recent graduates from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland has won the First Place in the AIAS competition for the awards pavillion of the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada. Team members were Manuel Gross, Patrik Staub, Yannick Vorberg, and Stefan Vetsch.

The Pan Am Games Pavilion “tkaronto” by night - a luminescent icon of Toronto.

Project Description from the Design Team:
On July 10th, 2015, the Pan American Games will take place in Toronto. For two weeks, the Pan American Village, located in Toronto’s waterfront district, will serve as a central hub of sports, celebration and international friendship. Located on the site of the Pan American Village, the Awards Ceremony Pavilion will literally and figuratively be the stage by which the world views the success of the athletes and the host country. This semi-permanent structure will function as a multi-purpose platform during the Games and must remain flexible for future uses post-Games, such as an outdoor theater, a musical performance stage and social gathering spot. In developing an efficient and creatively designed facility, the Pavilion will serve as an icon for Toronto and the Games.

The Pavilion - an open space for the inhabitants of Toronto.

We located our design at the Lower Don Lands right next to the Victory Soya Mills Silos. This area is separated from the city by the railways, the Gardiner Expressway and the Lake Shore Boulevard. The selection of the waterfront as our site for the Pavilion is urbanisticly very sustainable - we bridge the physical and psychological barrier of these transport axes. The Pavilion becomes a starting point for the further development of the Lower Don Lands.

An award ceremony under the roof.

Our design is inspired by the Name of Toronto, originally tkaronto, which means “place where trees stand at the water” or “meeting place”. We really like the idea of a meeting place that is created through a couple of trees - our Pavilion works as simple as that. A huge “balloon - roof” creates an interesting and protecting place, where people can meet, relax or entertain themselves. Under the roof there are some boxes, which contain the different programs. Their form is inspired by the image of supported logs in the wood.

Interior view of the bar.

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