Winner: Exhibition design (interior) of the year 2024. Semester Studio has designed the Temporary Storage Garden exhibition in Shanghai, China.

Semester Studio's approach to sustainability is contextual, low-tech, and temporal. This exhibition design begins with material that could be borrowed and returned to the furniture factory.

"We set for ourselves the simple challenge of achieving zero waste in realising the transient structure," said Semester Studio.

"The pressures of sustainability are especially apparent in an exhibition – in our case, built and thrown out in a week."

Instead of reshaping the materials, they are used in direct and honest ways, often learning from how they are used in production and taking advantage of their innate qualities to avoid unnecessary damage that may compromise their subsequent use.

Judges comments: “The approach to circularity is exemplary. This is a beautifully crafted exhibition space that utilises lighting to maximum effect. But the strength is the concept, of temporarily turning a pile of materials into something incredible, then sending them back to where they came from. It shows how the concept of reuse and recycle can be applied in an elevated and elegant way.”

Studio: Semester Studio
Project: Temporary Storage Garden
Credits: Camerich