Edinburgh Art Festival Pavilion

Edinburgh Art Festival is delighted to have commisioned its first festival pavilion with support from the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund. Situated in St. Andrew Square Gardens, this temporary pavilion, designed by Karen Forbes with leading structural engineers Buro Happold and RMJM architectural practice, is the contemporary expression of the city’s long fascination with optics and optical devices for viewing.

 

 

At the heart of the city where Sir David Brewster (1781–1868) invented the kaleidoscope and dedicated a life to exploring the physics of light, Forbes’ glass chamber uses the latest technology in glass façade engineering to create a space which celebrates the play of light and shadow. With its curved forms and scalloped edge, Forbes’ pavilion channels the light to trace delicate and ever-changing patterns on the pavilion floor.

 

Much of Forbes’ work comes from a lengthy engagement with site and place. Here Forbes’ structure engages with the workings of the square’s architecture. The column at the centre of the square, the Melville Monument, acts as a giant sundial, tracking the passing of the hours with its circulating shadow around the square. Forbes’ futuristic glass curve captures the lines of light, continuously re-configured on its surfaces as a measure of time and place, and invites visitors to enjoy a moment of contemplation and reflection in the centre of the festival city. Throughout the festival, the pavilion will host a programme of events, delivered in partnership with Edinburgh’s galleries.

 

The Edinburgh Art Festival Pavilion, photographed by Ben Kirkpatrick, Buro Happold

 

Solar Pavilion under construction.  Footage by Loren Slater

 

Mon–Sun, 10am–5pm