Morag Myerscough & Luke Morgan — The Pavilion, Library of Birmingham

BirminghamDesign

Word Up

Lobby pavilion keeps Birmingham library at the forefront of debate...

Libraries are under threat? Try telling that to Birmingham. The city has just had a spanking new one, and The Discovery Season curated by Capsule is holding an 18-week series of events exploring how libraries can remain relevant – even essential – resources. A long guest list of film and book people, artists and other creatives will be taking up residence for one week each – and, to give them a ready-made platform for their activities, Supergrouplondon‘s Morag Myerscough and Luke Morgan have constructed The Pavilion. Isn’t that nice of them?

Custom-built and decorated by the pair and a couple of glamorous assistants, the single-story wooden pavilion has been installed in the library lobby. The outside has been festooned with symbols from the digital age, hand-painted in an analogue juxtaposition, and thrusting up from the pavilion is a collection of in-your-face neon signs – a word cloud generated from workshops with the youth arts group Birmingham 2022. Light entering through the roof slats create an interesting effect for those inside, and the structure can be opened up or closed off from the public using big double doors on either side. Another hit for Myerscough, who we last saw erecting another typographical super-shed – the Movement Café – in Greenwich during the Olympics.

@supergrouplondo
@LibraryofBham

Morag Myerscough & Luke Morgan — The Pavilion, Library of Birmingham Morag Myerscough & Luke Morgan — The Pavilion, Library of Birmingham Morag Myerscough & Luke Morgan — The Pavilion, Library of Birmingham Morag Myerscough & Luke Morgan — The Pavilion, Library of Birmingham Morag Myerscough & Luke Morgan — The Pavilion, Library of Birmingham Morag Myerscough & Luke Morgan — The Pavilion, Library of Birmingham Morag Myerscough & Luke Morgan — The Pavilion, Library of Birmingham

Photography, Gareth Gardner