Pavilion Of Humanity:
First Contact

The project proposes a floating architectural complex, comprised of a pixel-like aggregation of building blocks, organized according to binary code, each of the blocks represent an independent exhibition space corresponding to a singular topic in the history of human civilization. The blocks are divided into 5m, 10m and 20m cubes, depending on the amount of information they hold; topically-linked blocks are physically connected by passages and stairs, forming various routes of passage. The structure is intended to grow over time, coincidentally becoming exponentially more complex as topics are added and pathways intertwined. According to the jury, “This project represents, in its own open binary combinatorial structure, the entire world of human civilization. It reads like an encoded language and as a painting of magical realism at the same time. Although the language is fairly mono-dimensional and binary, the combinations are varied and generative.” In this proposal, math is taken as the communicative language of the cosmos, in the same vein as the material included on the Golden Record of the 1977 NASA Voyager spacecraft, which contained images encoded in analogue form.

Located at the Hiroshima atomic epicenter, the project proposes an inverted pyramidal void, filled with a tangle of forms that result in a complex set of passages into and through the pavilion. According to the submission proposal, the form represents a “radically passive space meant to specifically point to the unknown and the [human’s] inability to have any definitive answers for ourselves.” The jury cites, - “The inversional qualities of  this proposal (going down, looking up, walking on the surface, which is the base of an inverted pyramid) establish a connection to the larger universe, while referencing the void created by mankind's most dramatic (self-)destructive event. It is an interesting analysis of abstraction, and a beautiful idea for a pavilion structured around a negative-excavated pyramid, like a place of query and investigation. A powerful experiential space.”

The Stanford Binary Array proposes a pavilion set next to the Stanford Satellite Dish on the Palo Alto campus. Its form is inspired by the historic satellite – the first manmade object launched with the intent to make extraterrestrial contact. The jury writes of the project, - “It is a little bit naive and related to Sci-Fi language, but a powerful and beautiful presentation that turns infrastructure into a sublime landscape in many dimensions; a multidimensional, cryptic, and beautifully-illustrated project on a compelling site.” The 46m-diameter circular pavilion is programmed as an amphitheater with a stage at its center. The project is self-described, “Set beside the important Stanford Dish, the site draws parallels of form, function and, perhaps more importantly, shared hope.”