Kairos, a pavilion for architecture, art and debate

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The Kairos Pavilion, by architects João Quintela and Tim Simon, was inaugurated on 16 November, 2012, at 19:00 at LX Factory. With the aim of stimulating, generating and presenting works of cultural scope, this pavilion was born as a response to an unsustainable and inhibiting social and economic context. KAIROS assumes itself as an open and collaborative platform for the presentation of creative production, in various areas and practices ranging from architecture and design to visual arts, performance or theatre. Affirming itself with a different approach from the institutional circuit of museums and galleries, Kairos aims to enhance the encounter, interaction and disciplinary crossroads.

In 2013, the Pavilion premieres its programme with the presentation of site-specific proposals, in partnership with the Lisbon Architecture Triennale, which integrates the cycle Critical Distance. The first guest is Alberto Campo Baeza with an installation entitled A Rain of Dreams, taking place on 13 April and including a conference by the architect in conversation with Manuel Aires Mateus at the XL space (LX Factory). 

The Portuguese architect, who will be the next to present an intervention in this space, leads a conversation with the recently awarded Heinrich Tessenow 2013 gold medalist around some of the central themes of their work. This presentation will also be the occasion for the launch of Campo Baeza's new book: Principia Architectonica, published by Caleidoscópio. The opening ceremony, coordinated and presented by Fabrícia Valente, was attended by the authors of the project, Sara Battesti, of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale and the management of the prefabricated concrete company Gracifer, partner in this project and involved in the construction of the iconic building Franjinhas. The moment ends with a musical moment conceived from the KAIROS project, with João Caldas, Mariana Nunes and the C3 PO Trio (João Miguel, Vítor Trindade and João Caldas).

With free admission, the event is part of the cycle Critical Distance, the programme of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale that includes conferences, round tables, workshops and publications, which arises from the growing lack of debate in contemporary architecture in Portugal and a persistent critical gap between the discipline and the public. With the sponsorship of Caixa Geral de Depósitos, the three final presentations of this first cycle will be developed from a co-production of Triennale and KAIROS: Alberto Campo Baeza, 13 April 2013; Manuel Aires Mateus, 10 May 2013; and the Chilean duo Pezo Von Ellrichshausen, 21 June 2013.

The Lisbon Architecture Triennale has thus reaffirmed its support for creative practices that reflect, activate and question space as a material and symbolic reality, arguing that these projects contribute with new perspectives and enriching readings for the discipline, for those who produce it and for those who live it.