Terence Gower

The three drawings of the Spec. Pavilions are in the form of expanded axonometrics. An axonometric drawing is a scale rendering, like a floor-plan, that also shows the space’s volume in three dimensions. In this series, drawing has been expanded vertically to make visible both floors of the pavilion.

Each of the Spec. Pavilions is a variation on the Pabellón de bicicletas, commissioned in 2002 by the Colección Jumex in Mexico City and installed on the grounds of the Jumex factory. The Pabellón de bicicletas has two functions: it is a pleasure pavilion or mirador from which to gaze over the Jumex factory grounds, and it is a storage shed for bicycles. The Pavilion is the site of a daily pilgrimage by factory workers arriving by bicycle, causing them to interact with the piece in a utilitarian manner.

In the drawings of the Spec. Pavilions the arrangement of glass panels of the second floor has been modified to work compositionally with the redesigned ground floor. Each of the three pavilions has been given a new function for the ground floor:

1. A gallery office has been set up on the ground floor of Spec. Pavilion I. Reception, library, interns, preparation, storage and director’s office are laid out in a single line. This pavilion could be installed in a huge indoor space or outdoors for a dealer of outdoor sculpture. The upper level offers another perspective on the artworks surrounding the pavilion.

2. Spec. Pavilion II is designed as a site for louche activities. Modeled on a pissoir, the ground floor of the pavilion can be used for urinating, public sex, drug dealing and prostitution. A small ice cream stand is built in at one end of the pavilion to give it an air of calculated harmlessness. From the upper level, potential clients/threats can be identified at a distance.

3. Spec. Pavilion III is a surveillance module. A front desk is provided for security staff, while a closed cabin houses the closed circuit television monitors connected to the cameras mounted on the exterior of the pavilion. The second level operates as a “turret” from which security staff can obtain a longer view of the pavilion’s surroundings.