The Future of Us Pavilion

Located in Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay, The Future of Us Pavilion follows the grand tradition of architectural structures that evoke a dialogue with nature by blending an intricate form with a perforated skin fluidly with the adjacent environments. For visitors, it offers a climatically comfortable outdoor environment and a stunning visual experience akin to walking under the foliage of lush tropical trees. Originally built to house The Future of Us, Singapore’s 50th Anniversary capstone event, the Pavilion has since become a permanent landmark that continues to serve as a public asset and venue for important community and cultural events.

The inspiration for the Pavilion was the environmentally comfortable and visually beautiful experience of walking under the foliage of lush trees in the tropics. This idea was translated into a design with a clear mathematical logic that was determined by extensive environmental simulations and structural optimisations. The analyses and their application to a detailed computational model led to an optimum solution for the structural form and pattern of the Pavilion. Material usage was optimised, and the embodied carbon footprint minimised, pointing the way forward for the building industry to adopt similar design tools and methods.

Originally built for The Future of Us, Singapore’s 50th Anniversary capstone exhibition and completed for its current purpose in 2019, the Pavilion has since become a permanent landmark in Singapore's Gardens by the Bay that continues to serve as a main public asset and venue for important community and cultural events. According to Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, “The Pavilion has been an inspiration, for young and old alike, that great design can make a difference not only how we experience the present but also how we view the future."

A high level of integration between digital and construction technologies as well as building processes allowed for the rapid production of a large number of individual elements that make up the complex freeform structure of the Pavilion. Its primary structure is made from steel. The inner and outer skin of the shell consist of triangular aluminium panels of varying size and perforation fabricated with laser cutting machines. The Pavilion incorporates 11,000 unique perforated aluminium panels, 12,040 bolts, 11,188 plates, and 4,620 elements for the main structure. The shell has a thickness of 20 centimetres. It spans about 50 metres and covers an area of about 2,000 square metres. To date, the Pavilion has won more than 20 national and international awards, including the Singapore President's Design Award, Singapore’s highest honour accorded to designers and designs across all discipline.