image courtesy of zaha hadid architects © michelle litvin

zaha hadid architects‘ burnham pavilion recently opened in millennium park, chicago as part of the burnham plan centennial celebrations. the pavilion is composed of an intricate curved aluminium structure, with fabric skins tightly zipped around the metal frame to create the curvilinear shape. the interior skin also serves as the screen for a video installation by thomas gray that explores chicago’s past and future.


image courtesy of zaha hadid architects © michelle litvin

text from zaha hadid architects:

the burnham pavilion by zaha hadid architects triggers the visitors’ curiosity and encourages them to consider the future of chicago. the design merges new formal concepts with the memory of burnham’s bold, historic urban planning. superimpositions of spatial structures with hidden traces of burnham’s plan are overlaid and inscribed within the structure to create unexpected results.


image courtesy of zaha hadid architects © michelle litvin


image courtesy of zaha hadid architects © michelle litvin

'the burnham plan centennial is all about celebrating the bold plans and big dreams of daniel burnham’s visionary plan of chicago. it’s about reinvention and improvement on an urban scale and about welcoming the future with innovative ideas and technologies. our design continues chicago’s renowned tradition of cutting edge architecture and engineering, at the scale of a temporary pavilion, whilst referencing the organizational systems of burnham’s plan.'


image courtesy of zaha hadid architects © michelle litvin

'the structure is aligned with a diagonal in burnham’s early 20th century plan of chicago. we then overlay fabric using contemporary 21st century techniques to generate the fluid, organic form - while the structure is always articulated through the tensioned fabric as a reminder of burnham’s original ideas.'


image courtesy of zaha hadid architects © michelle litvin

'fabric is both a traditional and a high-tech material whose form is directly related to the forces applied to it - creating beautiful geometries that are never arbitrary. I find this very exciting.' - zaha hadid.


image courtesy of zaha hadid architects © michelle litvin


image courtesy of zaha hadid architects © michelle litvin


image courtesy of zaha hadid architects © michelle litvin


image courtesy of zaha hadid architects © michelle litvin


image courtesy of zaha hadid architects © michelle litvin


(rendering) image courtesy of zaha hadid architects
image by methanoia studio


image courtesy of zaha hadid architects © michelle litvin


(rendering) image courtesy of zaha hadid architects
image by methanoia studio



image courtesy of zaha hadid architects






all drawings courtesy of zaha hadid architects / © zaha hadid architects

designed and built for re-use after its role in milennium park, the pavilion can be re-installed at other sites. the burnham pavilions will be open and free to the public in millennium park through october 31, 2009. further information and details of the burnham plan centennial can be found here.

project credits
program: temporary pavilion to house multimedia installation
client: burnham plan centennial
architect: zaha hadid architects
local architect: thomas roszak
structural engineers: rockey structures
fabricator: fabric images
lighting & electrical: tracey dear
multimedia content: the gray circle