Composed entirely of construction site materials, the design sought to playfully refresh the city by injecting vibrant swathes of colour in public space by way of a psychedelic pavilion. The pavilion’s character was built on nuance and mutability: colours faded, shifted, saturated and interacted as one moved in and around the space. The pavilion presented a wider spectrum of colour than was currently found in that specific locale and this invited visitors to focus, reflect and appreciate their surroundings with a fresh eye.

Humans have an automatic response to colour; the psychology behind it shows that people’s moods can be influenced by different hues as the different electromagnetic energies and wavelengths of colour elicit not just psychological but even physiological responses. The pavilion sought to visually stimulate the senses and ‘make its visitors come alive’ in the following aspects: 1) Evoke automatic psychological responses to the pavilion’s vibrant colour spectrum 2) Primary colour layers interact lightly to create secondary colours – this layered shift evokes the immediacy of the third dimension, which is essential to this property of change 3) Gradations of light and colour shift with one’s changing viewpoint and focus, this creates an intimate, visceral real-time relationship between the Pavilion and its viewer Working closely together with contractor Shanghai Chong Kee Furniture & Construction Pte Ltd, the pavilion was designed with a smart approach to zero waste.

The steel scaffolding came from the contractor’s existing stock and will be reused on other construction sites after the pavilion is dismantled, while the netting is safety netting that will have an afterlife in various construction sites after the festival ends. The pavilion was further intended to provoke curiosity and interest, where its height and vibrancy of colour were meant to stand in counterpoint to its surroundings. Raffles Place is an urbanised environment, densely built, hard-edged, polished, monochromatic (not in the strict scientific definition but qualitatively to mean fewer, limited colours, muted).

In contrast the pavilion was soft-edged, visually light, polychromatic, ephemeral (a transient entity with a two week lifespan). The pavilion was composed of multiple layers of netting to achieve overall density in colour and form. The saturation of colour was calibrated by choice of the netting’s density and closer spacing between the layers of netting. The Archifest Pavilion was installed at Raffles Place Park and was open to the public from 23 September to 9 October 2016. The two-week long festival was anchored at the pavilion, featuring exhibitions, conversations, Architours and other fringe events.

Photo credits: DP Architects & Teo Zi Tong Credits: - DP Architects Pte Ltd - Serine Chan - DP Architects Pte Ltd - Guo Zi Ang - DP Architects Pte Ltd - Thoe Chong Chin - Keon Consult Pte Ltd - Wai Kun Liau - DP Architects Pte Ltd - Sean Fernandes - Shanghai Chong Kee Furniture & Construction - Harry Tan - DP Architects Pte Ltd - Chai Yee Foo - DP Architects Pte Ltd - Wai Kit Ho - DP Architects Pte Ltd - Weng Fai Yeong