Temporary architecture should never be disposable, even if it’s designed with a very specific purpose in mind. With ProtoCAMPO, designers WALD and Bollinger+Grohmann have created a beautiful example of what that kind of sustainability can look like. Built for the Villa Médici Festival des Cabanes 2022, the modular pavilion can be fully disassembled and reused when the event is over. Unlike most event tents, it’s neither flimsy nor boring. Paying homage to classic Roman architecture, it consists of a wooden structure (agora) upon which an inflatable dome (cupola) sits.

“ProtoCAMPO is both low-tech and high-tech,” explain the designers. “Low tech, as it is assembled by hand using traditional and basic carpentry and joinery assemblage techniques to build up the prefabricated timber pieces. High-tech, in the conception of the inflatable cupola that can be implemented in less than an hour to unfold a six-meter diameter dome weighing only 300 kilograms. protoCAMPO subtly plays with the rhythm of the Villa Medici’s garden framing views of the 200-year-old pine trees and the historic villa. The repetitive timber structure echoes the Renaissance grid structure of the garden being both classical and wild. The dialogue between the pavilion and the surrounding nature evolves over the day, playing with the sun’s path and the rhythm of the garden.”
Located near Rome’s famous Spanish Steps, the Villa Medici was designed by Bar...