andrew burns architect: crescent house pavilion

‘crescent house’ by andrew burns architect, sydney australiaimage © brett boardmanall images courtesy andrew burns architect

the ‘fugitive structures’ series held annually at the sherman contemporary art foundation in paddington, sydney aims to spark architectural thoughtin the general audience through the exhibition of temporary installations. this year’s ‘crescent house’ pavilion designed by local architect andrew burnsexemplifies a small but architecturally rich structure that can be thoroughly appreciated by any visitor. in plan, two large arcs of differing radii intersect,an appeal to a certain purity and monumentality of space physically rendered at a smaller scale with the same powerful impact. their convergence almostdefines infinity, where a very obvious form should occur to complete the circles there is instead nothing but a sliver of a threshold whose very nature containsan indefinable amount of points. the user standing in the center finds themselves bisected by a razor edge and yet in the theoretical center one very absolutesport between two volumes of opening space. the curving walls are made from burned yaki-sugi vertical wooden planks that recall the ravage of wild bushfiresand more importantly lend to a plethora of spatial themes explored throughout the structure. the darkness of the material and interior space is balance by thecontrolled constellations of light filtered through the rectangular perforated steel panel that faces the exterior world. constantly changing spots of light stainthe darkened timber interior and reflecting an image of the night sky in the middle of the day.

(left) view from the neighboring structure(right) entranceimage © brett boardman