A temporary pavilion designed by Brooklyn-based Freecell Architecture opened Friday in St. Louis.
The installation is the winner of the PXSTL design-build competition run by the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts and Washington University's Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. The goal of the competition was to create a public space in an empty lot across the street from the Pulitzer Foundation's building, which was designed by Pritzker-winner Tadao Ando, Hon. FAIA, and opened in 2001.
The installation, called "Lots," is an open-air 36-foot-square steel frame canopy with fabric sails that provide shading over a gravel platform. It will house 13 different programs over the next several months, ranging from a workshop on paper making to a youth orchestra concert to a portrait studio. Selected from 36 proposals, the programs were awarded grants from the Pulitzer Foundation. The pavilion will close in October.
Freecell is led by principal Lauren Crahan and creative director John Hartmann. The firm worked with M-A-D on the 2012 U.S. Pavilion at the International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale, and also created the third iteration of the Times Square Valentine.
