UMA Pavilions

Umeå School of Architecture - 1.Year Technology Course - Spring 2025

This design&build project formed the central part of the second module of the first-year technology course, shifting focus toward post-and-beam systems and the behavior of frame structures under gravity and lateral loads. Over a two-week period, students worked collaboratively to investigate how linear structural elements operate across one-way and two-way systems, and how stability is achieved through bracing and shear strategies.

The process began with an intensive lecture series and the analysis of assigned case studies, followed by the construction of scaled models where students explored stability, failure, and load paths through hands-on experimentation. Groups progressively merged through multiple hybrid phases, synthesizing different structural logics into increasingly complex systems through iterative model making and drawing.

In the final stage, students translated their hybrid structures into pavilion designs and constructed them at full 1:1 scale outside the UMA building. These temporary installations challenged students to apply their understanding of structural systems, material behavior, and collaboration in a real-world context, transforming abstract principles into spatial and inhabitable form.