Barn Again Pavilion by THISS Studio & Tom Svilans

Barn Again is a remarkable architectural installation created by THISS Studio in collaboration with architect Tom Svilans for the inaugural 2025 Copenhagen Architecture Biennale. Situated in Gammel Strand, Copenhagen, the pavilion responds to the Biennale’s theme, “Slow Down”, exploring the implications of deceleration on a local, human scale. This project transforms an ancient Norwegian barn into a contemporary timber pavilion, inviting visitors to pause, reflect, and reconnect with time, space, and materiality within a busy urban environment.

The pavilion emerges as both a symbolic and functional intervention, bridging historical craft with contemporary sustainability practices. Its design reflects a thoughtful consideration of life cycles, material longevity, and sensory engagement, offering a space for reflection amid the city’s fast-paced rhythm.

Design Concept: Reuse and Timber Craft

At the heart of Barn Again lies a timber pavilion composed of stacked beams tapering upward to a pointed form, constructed entirely from salvaged timber sourced from disused Norwegian barns. Each beam retains the weathered surfaces, aged joinery, and historic connection details from its original life, allowing the wood to narrate its history.

Newly crafted joints and precision machining overlay the old, giving the timber a second life while preserving its unique story. The pavilion becomes a living archive of craftsmanship, where traditional techniques meet contemporary detailing, emphasizing the value of reuse, sustainability, and material consciousness. The pavilion’s stacked form creates a dynamic interplay between openness and enclosure, allowing for both intimate gathering spaces and transparent thresholds that connect the interior with the surrounding urban environment.

Spatial Experience: Shelter and Gathering

Barn Again functions as more than a visual installation—it is an experiential space for pause, gathering, and reflection. Its carefully spaced timber beams create sheltered seating areas, thresholds, and a small kiosk for community engagement. Visitors are encouraged to slow down, not only physically, but mentally, engaging with the textures, forms, and light qualities of the timber.

The pavilion’s design also considers sensory experience. Three censers, designed by British studio EJM, are suspended within the pavilion to create a calm, meditative environment. In collaboration with the B Corp skincare brand formerly known as Haeckels, a bespoke scent and incense cone were integrated, enhancing the pavilion’s atmosphere with olfactory engagement. This multisensory approach emphasizes a deliberate slowness in perception and experience, aligning with the Biennale’s overarching theme.

Sustainability: Demountable and Reusable

Sustainability is central to Barn Again’s design. The structure was engineered with demountable connections in collaboration with Bollinger+Grohmann and Winther AS, ensuring the timber and components can be reused and adapted beyond the lifespan of the Biennale. This approach embodies circular design principles, extending the life of materials while minimizing waste.

The pavilion demonstrates how architecture can serve both temporal and enduring functions, offering a space for reflection and community assembly while respecting the lifecycle of its materials. The reuse of original barn timbers highlights the importance of slow, considered craftsmanship, where construction is not only about building, but about preserving and enhancing history.

Cultural Significance: Craft, History, and Modernity

Barn Again is a meditation on tradition and contemporary architectural practice. The original Norwegian timbers, with their integral dowels and wood joints, serve as a testament to centuries of careful construction. By overlaying these historical elements with delicate modern detailing, the pavilion creates a dialogue between old and new, past and present, and craftsmanship and innovation.

As Sash Scott, co-founder of THISS Studio, noted, the pavilion embodies the intentionality of design and life—a reminder that slowing down can create more sustainable and meaningful experiences. Similarly, Tom Svilans highlights the way the project honors the original materials, allowing them to continue their story on an international stage, celebrating craft while demonstrating innovation.

Visitor Experience: Pause, Reflect, Connect

Visitors to Barn Again encounter a space designed to engage all senses while inviting slowness in thought and movement. The stacked timber form encourages exploration through its layered, vertical arrangement, while the thresholds, openings, and sheltered areas foster human interaction, contemplation, and connection with the material environment.

The pavilion’s strategic transparency and intimate corners allow for varied experiences—from quiet reflection in the scented and incense-filled interior to communal gatherings at the kiosk or seating zones. Through its architectural composition, Barn Again transforms everyday urban activity into a ritual of slowing down, offering a subtle but profound commentary on how architecture can influence behavior and perception.

Legacy: A Pavilion with Extended Life

Barn Again demonstrates how architecture can extend beyond its immediate function. It is not merely a temporary Biennale pavilion but a prototype for sustainable, adaptive reuse. By merging historical timber craft, modern detailing, and environmental responsibility, the project sets a benchmark for design practices that honor material histories while responding to contemporary social and ecological needs.

The pavilion’s life cycle—from its origins as Norwegian barns to its current installation in Copenhagen—reflects a philosophy of slowness, care, and longevity. In doing so, it provides a tangible model for future interventions in urban and architectural practice, emphasizing that design can be both purposeful and reflective, creating spaces that nurture community, awareness, and mindful engagement.

Barn Again is more than an architectural installation; it is a celebration of craft, reuse, and deliberate slowness, offering visitors a space to pause, reflect, and connect within the busy rhythm of the city.

Photography: Maja Flink