pihlmann

'Build of Site' simultaneously restores the Danish Pavilion and explores unconventional ways of repurposing surplus construction materials hyperlocally. Rather than allocating the funds and time at our disposal to a temporary exhibition, the project channels these resources into long-lasting improvements, based on insights from a 2016 analysis of the building.

It identified increased vulnerability to flooding — intensified by climate change and local conditions — which necessitated upgrades to floors and openings. This work, initiated and facilitated through the exhibition, began prior to the opening and will be completed after it closes. During the exhibition period, the pavilion transforms into a hybrid space: a paused worksite, an open laboratory, and a full-scale showcase where restoration serves as exhibition — and vice versa.

The elements presented within the pavilion originate from the restoration of the pavilion itself. What might typically be discarded as construction waste is reimagined as valuable resources. By turning debris into ramps, tables, podiums, benches, and other elements archetypal for exhibitions, we make use of what is found on site. This is done in close collaboration with experts across disciplines, highlighting an architectural practice that integrates bio-based, high-tech, and recycled features, prioritizing structural potential over preconceptions of value.

Historically, builders worked with what they had: stones gathered from riverbanks and fields, trees felled and milled on site. Today, due to a culture of disposability, an overwhelming amount of resources have already been invested in the world. Modern architectural rationales are shaped by complex interconnections, blurring the lines between raw, reused, and reconfigured materials, making a return to bygone methods anachronistic. Instead, distinctions and hierarchies between old and new must be rethought. Regardless of their origin, curiosity-driven attention must be given to the materials already at hand on site — making matter out of what too often does not matter.

Commissioned by the Danish Architecture Center, it is carried out in close collaboration with various experts, with support from, among others, Realdania, the Ministry of Culture, the Danish Art Foundation’s Architecture Committee.