Off The Shelf

We worked with Kobayashi to realise the pavilion, which was his first large scale installation. The pavilion borrows ideas from Olympia’s historic architecture and mixes them up with the traditional Japanese wooden homes of the artist’s childhood.

The structure showcases a timber sway frame, formed of natural, low carbon, standard components that are cleverly weighted, prestressed, or clamped together to allow for easy disassembly back into the original, ‘off-the-shelf’ parts. With the goal of avoiding the wastefulness that is often associated with temporary structures, the bulk of the materials can be returned, reused, or resold.

The installation was host to a lively series of exhibitions, workshops, and performances as part of the festival’s programme, and will remain situated in Olympia — a destination for art, culture, education, entertainment, exhibition, music, food, drink and work — until February 2025.