The core of Riyadh Art is its civic concept which both relates to the citizens and the city; it aims to transform the city into an urban gallery, a vast experimental space that merges new meanings and old practices. The essence of الریاض, al-Riyāḍ, garden, encapsulates and enhances this concept and transfers it to the Pavilion, intended as a dynamic habitat in continuous change and evolution, a new space that intends to draw the community in and act as a cultural laboratory and an observatory. The premise of this project is to question the meaning of pavilion; not to add another architectural extravaganza but rather to introduce a structure that works as a platform producing a space of connection, physical and virtual; a space that boosts the radical potential of the Riyadh Art Program-Urban Art Lab and extends the idea of identity- identities at all scales.

The Pavilion is a space of knowledge and imagination, a space of multiplicity, a space of unpredictable scenarios, a charged void, and a device.
The ancient roots of the Islamic tradition based on a scientific and highly imaginative culture permeates the strategy of the Pavilion, which like an astrolabe intends to trace out new paths of knowledge, to link to the unexpected, thus producing a sense of wonder. The idea of Void and Square are fundamental, they relate to the essential concept of space, to its immense potential and public value, enhancing the sense of experience, belonging and participation.
The architecture is reduced to its essential elements: Roof-Structure-Floor, the Contents are meant as another element that informs the space. Instead of a typical relationship between the parts, a new narration is introduced and then produced: the Roof will be raised or lowered, provoking a multiplicity of conditions and a high level of interaction between the Pavilion-Contents-Visitors-Context, also conferring on the Pavilion a public value and an intimate scale.
The basic geometry of the main elements articulates a space that is one and multiple, they all have singular qualities and features, yet they are part of a unique and pristine ensemble. The square Roof and Floor occupy the entire area of 20x20m, defining the threshold and the only limits of the Pavilion, yet altering its perception; the two surfaces facing each other provoke a unique tension and the in-between space assumes both a terrestrial and a celestial nature.
The Floor is intended to be a Square; a shared ground frequented and inhabited; a non-directional space of constant crossing and transition.
The overarching mobile Roof describes the architectural space in its tridimensional condition; the ceiling, overlying architecture and media, features an extensive LED screen surface that displays iridescent digital artworks, amplifying the Pavilion’s transient and interactive nature.
The movement of the roof deals with space and time, it responds primarily to the path of the sun, providing a low shaded shelter during the day and a high sky at night. It can go down and rise also according to the different programs, offering a large repertoire of spatial configurations and a programmatic flexibility. It eventually touches the ground and the upper roof surface transforms into a stage, allowing maximum participation to events from the surrounding Plaza and subverting the relation Pavilion-Context. A fifth element completes the Pavilion’s configuration; it is a Satellite placed in front which works both as an antecedent and counterpart of the main contents by means of a video wall façade, and as a storage and back-of-house allowing maximum freedom to the Pavilion.

The change of status of the Pavilion provokes a continuous passage, exchange, movement of contents, increases the potential of the space and programs, and mainly triggers new uses and forms of communication; both digital and physical, blurring the limits.