The Pavilions at Chatham, Art Omi 

Our firm was invited to participate in a competition to design an assembly of mini art pavilions located within a new 18 pavilion complex in Chatham NY. 

 

Spread across a hilltop of 190 acres, the mini pavilions are one of the sites. Visitors will explore these pavilions which will have stand-alone exhibitions from distinguished artists showcasing their work in a setting that they control. And are part of a larger center, including a visitor center and a rotating exhibition Pavilion. 

The mini concept will allow the viewer to sit comfortably with one, or a limited number of works in each Pavilion. The experience will allow comfort without distraction to see an artwork more deeply… 

Each Pavilion will vary from 300-600 square feet. 

 The landscape inspired memories of regional shaker stone walls that bridge nature and art, these walls historically acted as property & field dividers. We considered structures merging with the ground, incising the topography and swerving the land. 

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The 5 mini pavilions are weaved into an assembly by paths, ramps and stairs, which terminate into an organizing courtyard. Each pavilion is conceived as a unique form to allow for different art types and scales, from painting, sculpture to multi-media. 

 

As the project developed the mini pavilions took on names inspired by their shape or reference to regional buildings such as farm buildings, greenhouses and covered bridges: “Silo” a metal clad structure; “Tilt” and “Ying Yang” are clapboard/metal sheds, “earth” a man