A pavilion made of a stack of lumber
Chicago-based architecture and design practice Office of Dillon Pranger (ODP) designed a pavilion which consists of stacks of standard dimensional lumber.
When a building’s lifespan ends, in the best-case scenario, it is demounted and all materials are reused or recycled. However, this is currently not often the case. Even with the best intention during the construction phase, the materials have often undergone substantial transformations (like cuts and notches) and irreversible connections (glues, nails, etcetera).
Called WoodStack, the structure was designed to challenges the notion of permanence in building construction, while “questioning our perception of material value by blurring the lines between what is a stack of lumber, a material depot, and a structure.” The pavilion exterior resembles monolithic stacks of standard dimensional lumber, often found at the lumber yard. Like these stacks are temporary storing places for the material, WoodStack’s design and construction techniques also make it a temporary structure, while allowing its materials to be easily disassembled and reused in another lifecycle.
The project is comprised of two parallel stacks of lumber that form an interior space. A series of concrete footings lift the structure off the ground to protect it from moisture. Weather resistant cladding is also applied. The top of the pavilion is purposely left unfinished, “implying that it exists in a constant state of flux with materials being added and removed as needed for other projects.”
Photos: Office of Dillon Pranger (ODP)