JUNGFRAU PAVILION.
Temporary Pavilion, Steffisburg, Switzerland

The Jungfrau Pavilion (2018) was designed for the Bernese community of Steffisburg and realized as part of the triennial festival Art Container. Conceived as an architectural contribution to the iconographic tradition of the Jungfrau — initiated by Paul Klee, Arnold Böcklin, and Ferdinand Hodler — the pavilion translates a long-standing pictorial lineage into an inhabitable spatial form.

As is characteristic of this artistic tradition, the pavilion’s geometry is inspired by the surrounding alpine panorama. With approximately 250 square meters of covered surface and a height of 9 meters, the structure was developed in close collaboration with local authorities, from fundraising to technical engineering and construction.

Conceived as a theatrical device, the pavilion presents itself as a secular cathedral set within rapeseed fields. It hosts daily “liturgies” such as concerts, public talks, gastronomic events, and leisure activities, celebrating the sublimeness of the Bernese alpine landscape and territory.

The pavilion incorporates ad-hoc furniture produced using concrete casting boards, selected to resonate chromatically with the surrounding yellow fields. The wooden roof structure is based on an open-truss system that allows the suspension of a lightweight membrane. This configuration inverts load forces and optimizes the structural performance of the timber construction.

Designed as a temporary structure, the Jungfrau Pavilion can be dismantled and reconstructed in different contexts, adapting to a variety of open-air cultural programs.

By translating an iconic landscape from image into spatial device, the pavilion anticipates a dimension later articulated within Epistemic Design: cultural symbols do not remain representational, but can be reconfigured as operative spatial conditions.

Displace — The project displaces the Jungfrau from a purely representational or pictorial subject into an operative architectural scale, shifting an icon from image to inhabitable spatial device.

Expose — The pavilion exposes a long-standing iconographic tradition by rendering it publicly accessible as built space, making cultural memory experiential rather than pictorial.

Mediate — The Jungfrau Pavilion mediates between landscape, cultural history, and contemporary community use by transforming an artistic lineage into a performative architectural environment.

Activate — The pavilion activates the territory and the local community by functioning as a catalyst for collective gatherings, cultural events, and everyday use during the festival period.

Through its temporary and reconstructible nature, the project treats landscape not as a backdrop, but as a field in which cultural meaning is spatially enacted.