See You Soon was our entry for the 2020 Archifest pavilion competition. Our proposal explores the material possibilities of using glass and fabrics to create physical barriers and elements that separate space yet allow for visual connection; and to produce visual phenomena to draw and direct your gaze. Sitting in the URA atrium, the pavilion invites people to wander through and around it to view the exhibited contents and experience its atmosphere.

‘See you soon’ is what we tell each other when we wish to meet again.

In this project, we wanted to explore the simple act of seeing—of looking at one another, viewing exhibited items, surveying a space—at a time of enforced social distancing. Using glass as a material to physically separate, yet at the same time layer translucencies and manipulate light, our pavilion produces an expanded field of optical phenomena to direct and affect our gaze.

The pavilion sits in the atrium of the URA building. Rectangular in plan, it is flanked by two long walls of glass columns and another at its short end. There are 64 columns in total, which can be disassembled into parts for easy transportation. Each column consists of 2 removable glass fins mounted onto a steel base in a self-supporting V-shape arrangement. The fins use self-illuminating LES panels provided by the competition sponsor and have custom-designed tonal fritted patterns that lend the glass a surprisingly soft appearance. They generate maximal visual effects through reflection and superposition.

Sheer fabric spans the two glass column walls to modulate how daylight from the atrium skylight enters the space. Suspended translucent scrims separate and organize the space into 3 zones—a reception/breakout space at the entrance; a primary exhibition zone between the two planted courtyards; and an area for staging lectures/talks next to the water feature. Videos are projected onto the scrims and items are displayed on acrylic tabletops. Ethereal in presence and visually open, See You Soon draws visitors from afar with an invitation to see the exhibited architectural works.