Impermanence

The Abu Dhabi Art Pavilion Prize is an annual architecture competition that invites university students from around the UAE to submit proposals for the entrance pavilion for the Abu Dhabi Art Fair. In 2021, the theme centered around sustainability, with an emphasis on the use of environmentally friendly materials. Three students from NYUAD Class of 2024, Jason Cruz, Jennifer Tsai, and Roudhah Hamad Al Mazrouei, formed a team, worked together during the summer of 2021 and won the competition. Their accomplishment is especially remarkable because they won an architecture prize from a design background. The pavilion was open over the duration of Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2021.

Their concept, Impermanence, is designed to be an iconic pop-up structure that welcomes visitors into the first in-person Abu Dhabi Art show since 2019. It incorporates a central philosophy: “The most sustainable temporary pavilion is one that truly disappears after it is used”. The entire structure is designed to completely vanish after the Art Fair through the elimination of material waste, thanks to the use of two key materials: scaffolding and canvas. The main structure will be made out of construction scaffolding, a very common sight in the UAE, that acts as both a symbol of progress but also has underlying connotations of incompleteness. Its use challenges this negative connotation and, once disassembled, will be returned to its regular use in construction. The facades of the pavilion will be covered in a “living” canvas that would act as a projection space during the event. After the Art Fair, the material will receive second life by being transformed into tote bags, wallets, and other merchandise in collaboration with Abu Dhabi Art. This not only further reduces the usage of wastes such as single-use plastic bags, but also enhances the visitor experience by allowing people to take home a piece of the pavilion.

Quotes:
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‍Jason:For the longest time, I knew I wanted to be an architect. Although NYUAD doesn’t have an architecture major, I’ve strived to find opportunities to continue to express my creativity and passion for design through my classes and extracurriculars. The meticulous process of conceptual development and planning for this proposal has been an invaluable experience, and seeing this pavilion built is a dream come true. I am truly humbled and honoured to have this opportunity and to have worked with the team and our professors to realize this extraordinary project.

Jenn: I am incredibly grateful to be a part of this amazing team. It was so rewarding to see this project come true, starting from brainstorming ideas to researching to modelling the pavilion. Not only did we get the opportunity to apply and improve our skills and we are also deeply thankful and appreciate the guidance provided by Abu Dhabi Art and professor Goffredo Puccetti, professor Felix Beck, and professor Matt Karau.

Roudhah: Being a part of this team has been an utmost honourable and cherishable experience. The process of coming together and being able to juxtapose our unique skills, backgrounds and experiences to bring an art piece to fruition was truly remarkable. We used this initiative as a chance to gain knowledge, improve, and contribute to the public by expressing our skills and creativity during the summer. We worked tirelessly with passion and dedication, and we are ecstatic about our project, to say the least.

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Goffredo Puccetti, NYUAD Representative:

What Jason, Jennifer and Roudhah did is quite remarkable considering that NYUAD does not yet offer formal training in Architecture; over the summer our students took this project as an opportunity to learn, grow and give back to the community by sharing their talent and ingenuity. They worked relentlessly with passion and commitment to an idea that is as simple as beautiful: in order to be truly sustainable, our pavilion will disappear once the fair is over.

They sketched, brainstormed via Zoom, and worked around the clock, fine-tuning their proposal to the highest standard, with the guidance and support of Design and Engineering faculty who put interdisciplinarity at the core of their practice.

It gives me immense joy to thank my former colleague Professor Felix Beck of Münster School of Design who assisted the team from Germany in full NYUAD spirit, and Professor Matt Karau for the support to the team in the many late nights in the Engineering & Design Studio that got the students through their final concept.

What Jason, Jennifer and Roudhah did is quite remarkable considering that NYUAD does not yet offer formal training in Architecture; over the summer our students took this project as an opportunity to learn, grow and give back to the community by sharing their talent and ingenuity. They worked relentlessly with passion and commitment to an idea that is as simple as beautiful: in order to be truly sustainable, our pavilion will disappear once the fair is over.

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