Client
West Kowloon Cultural District Authority
Location
West Kowloon Cultural District, Kowloon
Type
Open Competition for Museum and Gallery Space
Description
M+Y Pavilion uses a simple design strategy to create complex perceptual effects. The strategy is two fold – one is organisational and the other is material. The simple organisational strategy consists of a window at the southern corner of the pavilion, where it subtracts the corner of the volume and re-orients the pavilion along the diagonal axis. This re-orientation unleashes a multitude of ways in which one engages and perceives the building. From different vantage points, the pavilion appears as a solid volume, or as a courtyard building, or as a volume peeling open to reveal its interior. As such, the pavilion maintains a certain amount of opacity and intrigue while the window is at once a display case of the artwork within and a display case of the city beyond. Using this simple organisational strategy, M+Y Pavilion conjoins the public promenade with the contents of the pavilion. The material strategy simply deploys two materials – recycled aluminium cladding and stucco. The cladding, folding from the roof to the walls, further emphasizes the diagonal orientation of the pavilion. Meanwhile, the contrasting colour and sheen of these two materials illusively blurs the edges of the building by day and by night. This results in subtle and dynamic experiences of the pavilion; where perceptually, it is diffused and ephemeral at times, while intense and objectified at others. As such, visitors to WKCD will have variegated experiences of both the pavilion and its contents of the pavilion.