Central Park Summer Pavilion

How is it possible to make something become part of a place which citizens have established and feel as their own, taking care of its environment and being mindful of its purpose?

The idea of replacing the green areas of the Central Park with a building can be thought as a crazy one. It represents a challenge to build something and not to compromise the essence of the park. It is also a challenge to further promote it so that visitors can experiment new activities there.
Water Pavilion is located on the Reservoir, best known to tourists for its panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline and to athletes who use its jogging track around it to train for the world’s biggest marathon which takes place on the first Sunday of November. At the entrance of the pavilion, a ramp raises parallel to the existing path which offers, and even improves, the views of the city seen from the lake. To reduce the footprint, the program focuses on a single flexible space that opens up to the lake and offers a view of the lake not seen before. Visitors can also take advantage of all the entertaining, cultural and relaxing activities that the pavilion offers.

The technology used to build it makes it easy to assembly and disassembly it in situ whenever it is necessary without leaving a sign of the building having been there. It also allows to add new modules to the floating platform that contain the services and where the rainwater collected is deposited and then used to irrigate the park. The materials used in the construction are laminated teak timber and ETFE. The outside of the pavilion is covered by ETFE. This helps make the most of the solar energy controlling how much light is allowed into the building according to the different spaces, days and times of the year.