The creation of a signature complement to Craig Elwood’s 1969 landmark building was initiated by a school-wide design session led by the California based practice of Craig Hodgetts and Ming Fung. This $800,000 project was set in motion by Art Center’s new President, Richard Koshalek. Envisioned as a casual diversion to the disciplined structure of its Miesian neighbor, the Sinclair Pavilion is intended for an alternative space in which to relax and socialize, on a break from their classes in Art Center’s landmark facility.

The result is a succession of light and airy spaces for student activities, and to satisfy the student-led brief for a place where they could unwind, where ‘anything goes’. The kinetic and transforming aspects of this project and its relationship to a setting of interaction among students, who can eat, relax and discuss their work is the advantage of this building. It is a building with thoughtful relationship to its surroundings, which also clear in organization and detail of the structure and its enclosure.

The building is situated at the apex of a trio of existing ramps that descend from the student parking area to the clipped green lawn of the Art Center Building. The Sinclair Pavilion is the only other free-standing structure on the 60 acre site, with its gait is calculated to infer unsteadiness through a kinetic assembly of specialized components that acknowledges the building‘s debt to the industrial designers for which the school is renowned. The program for the building was created during an intensive two-day charity with Art Center students, who asked for a space for impromptu lectures and talks, internet capabilities, and maximum contact with the surrounding environment.

The result is by exploiting the existing ramps, the building offers students a multi-level environment in which they can sip a cappuccino, visit with friends, or enjoy a lecture or film in a sheltered amphitheater. A sliding entrance opens into an upper-level sitting area with a refreshments kiosk, toilets and a gallery space. Steps lead down to an open space that serves as a stage and a side terrace with vending machines.

In contrast to Art Center’s landmark facility, the building is constructed of exposed galvanized steel, with a cacophony of struts and braces providing a casual counterpoint to Elwood’s majestic simplicity. Rugged materials are used throughout: concrete walking and seating surfaces, milled cement board cabinet work, and easily replaceable plywood wall surfaces. Shelter from the hot Californian sun is provided by a massive steel canopy, which also serves to frame views of the mountains and the city below.

The Sinclair Pavilion attempts to redress the digital design environment by adhering to an analogue design agenda characterized by large-scale moving parts such as a hand-cranked 15×25 ft window, and a pivoting Lamborghini-style canopy which gives access to the cafe. The natural ventilation and light are the architect’s effort to make the building open to nature. The aim of the building is symbiosis. The consummation of a narrative previously delivered as an eloquent monologue. It is the embodiment of a fleeting-but-trenchant episode in architecture.

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