Design collective Softspace Digital has built a pavilion at Chart Art Fair from natural materials including gelatin-based bioplastic and larch, which has been captured in this video produced as part of our Dezeen x Chart Art Fair 2022 collaboration.

Called A Music Box, the structure is one of five pavilions installed in the courtyards of the Charlottenborg mansion as part of the 10th edition of Chart Art Fair in Copenhagen.

The pavilion was created by Softspace Digital, a collaboration comprised of Tessira Crawford and Dilara Özlü, who aimed to create a pavilion that could be used as a space for relaxation and as a performance space.

A Music Box was one of five pavilions created at Chart Art Fair

The pavilion's main structure was constructed using larch wood posts and beams which stand on a pine wood platform.

Jute rope has been used to weave a roof structure around the perimeter of the pavilion, leaving an opening in its centre.

In-between the pavilion's posts, the artists have installed a series of revolving doors made from a gelatin-based bioplastic, framed in pine wood.

The designers installed the doors to create a "continuously changing and flickering facade" that aims to re-imagine the door as a dividing element between interiors and exteriors.

Responding to the brief of bio-architecture, Softspace Digital chose to use natural materials to construct its design to imagine a "healthier" architectural future that exists in symbiosis with the environment.

"This pavilion articulates an idea of a healthier collaborative future where our built environment is shared by humans and other animals alike," the designers said.

The pavilion was built as part of Chart Art Fair's annual architecture competition, which invited proposals set to the theme of bio-architecture this year to provoke a discussion surrounding the symbiotic relationship between architecture and nature.

The shortlisted pavilions were selected by a jury of architects and design specialists including BIG founder Bjarke Ingels, Snøhetta co-founder Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, speculative designer Pleun van Dijk, curator Maria Foerlev, author Ditte Lysgaard Vind and Johanne Hestvold, who will choose an overall winner at the end of the fair.

Also displayed at Chart Art Fair is Dune, a greenhouse-like pavilion and Biosack, a timber structure topped with a seaweed roof.

Pavilions from previous years have included a restaurant covered with microgreens and a structure made out of inflatable bags, which responded to the theme of social architecture.

Now in its 10th year, Chart Art Fair is an annual event comprising exhibitions, talks, performances, music and book fairs, bringing together art enthusiasts, design professionals and collaborators.

The photography is by Joakim Züger/Barsk project.

Chart Art Fair takes place from 26 to 28 August 2022 in Copenhagen, Denmark. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

Partnership content

This article was written as part of a partnership with Chart Art Fair. Find out more about our partnership content here.