valerie schweitzer architects playfully clusters floating 'outside-in pavilion' in watermill, new york

along the eastern tip of long island, female-run studio valerie schweitzer architects presents its newly completed ‘outside-in pavilion.’ the playful, occupiable sculpture is characterized as a cluster of elevated volumes projecting upward. crafted with loosely spaced timber slats, each part faces intimately inward while remaining open to filter the air and natural sunlight. in this way, the project defies the strict dichotomy of inside versus outside, and seeks to exist as more than an object within the landscape. instead, the pavilion blends within its forested context with a rhythmic verticality. 

image by blaine davis | @blaineduh

the design team at valerie schweitzer architects has realized the ‘outside-in’ pavilion as an environmentally-sensitive intervention to its context in watermill, new york. the structure is fabricated of both salvaged and new cedar wood, together with construction waste, which is used at the stair rails and in the blocking between each cedar wood post. the structure simulates a forest and allows the unadorned material to speak for itself. additionally, the forms loosely resemble the silos of the surrounding farmlands.

image by blaine davis

the team has realized the ‘outside-in’ pavilion at the request of the lead architect’s mother-in-law as a space to gather her family and friends in nature. during the era of COVID-19 however, the pavilion takes on more prominent role as a contemplative place of reflection in solitude. it is also programmed further as an ancillary outdoor office — with wifi — and allows a place of retreat for members of a large family during quarantine. the pavilion even offers a sleeping porch cloaked with mosquito netting, framing the night sky through its oculus. a steel circular rod allows for mosquito netting, and the space can be used as a sleeping porch from summer through fall.

image by josh goetz

image by josh goetz

image by josh goetz

image by josh goetz

image by josh goetz

image by josh goetz

image by blaine davis

project info:

project title: outside-in pavilion

architecture: valerie schweitzer architects (VSA) | @valerieschweitzerarchitects

location: watermill, new york

completion: 2020

photography: josh goetz, blaine davis