Go for a carefree spin in Five Line Projects' winning 2016 Triumph Pavilion

Whether through movies, books, or your own personal memories, the pinwheel is a classic symbol of those perfectly carefree summer days in your childhood that would go on and on and on. London-based design research practice Five Line Projects delightfully captures this idea in their winning entry for the 2016 Triumph Pavilion competition. With this year's theme as “Energy”, entrants had to design an engaging temporary showcase “Energy Pavilion” that would be suitable for the Museum Gardens in Bethnal Green, London, right next to the Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood. Entrants had the freedom to interpret the concept of “Energy” through form, movement, thoughts, imagery, or sensations in designing their submissions.

Completed on the grassy lawn of the Museum Gardens earlier this month, Five Line Projects' immersive design has been a wonderful success, where visitors of all ages get to twirl bamboo pinwheels to their heart's desire.

Standing at 2.75 m in height with an total area of 64m², the Energy Pavilion is made out of bamboo, stainless steel rods, timber, and polished aluminum. Solid steel brackets — structured steel ground anchors with carbon steel heads — keep the entire 9,000 kilogram (approximately 19,800 lbs) Pavilion in place. With an initial construction budget of US$12,000 provided by the competition organizers, Five Line Projects pointed out that they were able to complete the pavilion with the help of more than 100 supporters worldwide who contributed to the firm's crowdfunding campaign, which raised £38,510.*

“Inspired by the classic children’s toy, the pinwheel, the [Energy] Pavilion is a catalogue of mills upheld by a forest of pillars,” Five Line Projects writes in their project statement. “Each wheel is systematically aligned to the others on the rod pillar, so a spin of a single wheel triggers movement of the adjacent wheel signifying the idea that the action of a single individual triggers a chain reaction by a greater number, positively influencing the wider community.”

All photos courtesy of 2016 Triumph Pavilion.

Project details

Design Team
Five Line Projects, London, UK
Lead: Zhiyun He
Principal: Laura Virto, Nicola Vendramin, Micaela Nardella

Anchoring: SpiraFix, Newport, UK

Cutting | Fabrication | Assembly | Installation
Roof: INCACI, S.L., SPAIN
Platform: Timber Concept GmbH, GERMANY
Pinwheel Mills: Zhejiang Weilaoda, CHINA
Rods: OT-Wuxi Zhonghegang Metal, HONG KONG
Assembly: The Concept Space, UK
Installation Contractors: MDM Props, UK

*Correction note: This article has been amended to reflect the pavilion's correct budgeting information.