Nestled in the historic gardens of the Villa Médici in the heart of Rome, Italy, WALD presents protoCAMPO, a dismountable pavilion which superimposes two archetypes of the Roman city: the agora and the cupola. The agora is interpreted as a lightweight, prefabricated timber structure as a place of gathering, events, mediation and mediation, topped by an inflatable white dome serving as the cupola.

protoCAMPO employs a combination of both high- and low-tech construction techniques. The low-tech prefabricated timber structure of the agora was designed and built in collaboration with 44 technical high school students over a year, assembled by hand using traditional and basic carpentry and joinery assemblage techniques. 

The partnership gives value to, and enables the showcase of the technical knowledge of the students. Meanwhile, in a display of high-tech construction the lightweight inflatable cupola unfolds in under an hour to take shape as a 6m diameter high dome that weighs only 300kg, and creates an optimal acoustic environment to host live events.

Drawing on primitive construction, the French architecture studio conceives protoCAMPO as a single large roof shelter to host an array of cultural concerts, performances and conferences during the Villa Médici Festival des Cabanes 2022. The pavilion seats 350 people under the cupola while remaining completely open to the sunlight and lush greenery of the garden which seeps in through the frame

protoCAMPO employs a combination of both high- and low-tech construction techniques. The low-tech prefabricated timber structure of the agora was designed and built in collaboration with 44 technical high school students over a year, assembled by hand using traditional and basic carpentry and joinery assemblage techniques. 

The partnership gives value to, and enables the showcase of the technical knowledge of the students. Meanwhile, in a display of high-tech construction the lightweight inflatable cupola unfolds in under an hour to take shape as a 6m diameter high dome that weighs only 300kg, and creates an optimal acoustic environment to host live events.

The repetitive timber frame agora echoes the classical renaissance grid structure of the garden, and frames views of the 200-years-old pine trees and the historic 16th-century Villa. The dialogue between the pavilion and the surrounding nature evolves over the day, engaged in a dynamic dialogue with the sun path and arboreal rhythm.

protoCAMPO explores the idea of ​​a more mobile architecture, flexible in its uses with a positive social and environmental impact: self-sufficiency, reversibility of uses over time, ecological materials which makes it possible to imagine a less rigid and more open architecture.