LAUSR

Abstract The architectural pavilion is a common occurrence, from artistic institutional showpieces and prototypes for design schools to ephemeral structures in urban space. Preceding contemporary iterations, a 1990 urban festival in Groningen forecast the pavilion's future uses and popularity. Five “Video-Pavilions” were commissioned for “What a Wonderful World! Music Videos in Architecture,” a festival testing the pavilion's potential as an urban catalyst, a commissioning model, an exhibition strategy, and form of experimental architecture. Revisiting Groningen's pavilions illuminates an early instance of abstract architecture in urban space, the opportunities and issues which orbited them, and their enduring impacts today.