A•lava

Designed and constructed by a team of 20 students, the A•lava pavilion provides a sheltered stage for Annantalo, an art center for young people and families in the center of Helsinki, Finland. The stage is build as a semi-permanent building and will accommodate various art events from the school during the summers for the next five years. The stage is based on a square shape plan to provide a flexible and democratic space suitable for many types of presentations. The flexibility of the space intends to be a tools for the teachers and students of the school in there creative process. The design provides a main stage for artists and a 60 people audience, with the possibility to extend the show outside and host a larger event. A variation of triangular shapes that determine the walls and openings of the stage also serve as structural elements of the project. The geometry of the roof follows the same principles, raising up to emphasize the location of the stage by means of a set of beams forming a parabolic structure.