Pavillon du Bonheur Provisoire- Beer Crate Building

The Atomium in Belgium is familiar to many.  This architectural feat was designed in 1958 as part of a world expo which was the first to take place after WWII.  The Atomium is 102 meters high and has nine interconnected spheres, made to represent an iron crystal- magnified 165 billion times. The Atomium was not intended to survive beyond the 1958 World Fair but its popularity and success soon made it a key landmark in Brussels and beyond.

As a 50th anniversary celebration architects: Shin Bogdan Hagiwara, Thierry Decuypere and Jorn Aram Bihain, designed the Pavillon du Bonheur Provisoire- (Temporary Hapiness) a 600 meter temporary building made entirely of beer crates.

In the Architect statement:

We desired the contents of the pavilion to ask, 50 years later, what the notions of progress, universalism and happiness had brought in their time through the system of international exhibitions.

With the constructive principles of universality and reusability, we decided to use a material extracted from the daily life of an ordinary consumer.

 

It took approximately 33,000 empty crates of 'Jupiler' beer, 19 workers and 3900 hours to create this architectural wonder- complete with arches, domes and columns.

The intention is to: Understand[] that the sense of the temporary can only be truly successful when it is free of waste, [thus] the pavilion is built using a[] usual and ephemeral component which after the event returns to its normal daily use.


I love the idea that not only is the material recycled but that it is put BACK into use.
The line: the sense of the temporary can only be truly successful when it is free of waste
- is brilliant-

To link to the architects page:

Shin Bogdan Hagiwara & Shizuka Hariu Architecture

Link to Atomium Museum webstite: http://atomium.be/nt