Jury comment
The Er Pavilion is an urban intervention of the lightest touch imaginable. It existed for three weeks of the Fremantle Biennale in 2023 and made a gathering space for story, music, conversation and performance. It comprised a structure of salvaged timber, tethered to the ground with its own weight and covered with a shimmering canopy. Atop the structure, a solar desalination system siphoned salt water, with Ngarngk (mother/sun) separating water and salt, so the guests of the pavilion – plants, people and Walyalup keniny (winds) were replenished. Entirely repurposed at the conclusion of the Biennale, the pavilion leaves only the trace of endemic plantings made with reference to readings of settler diaries. A timely reminder that scale and permanence are not always the most powerful elements in the urban toolkit.
Er Pavilion is located in Walyalup/Fremantle on the land of the Whadjuk people of the Nyoongar nation.
To view all the winners of the 2024 Australian Urban Design Awards, go here.
