Xylotek Contributes to London Festival of Architecture 2024: Reimagine

The London Festival of Architecture 2024 is running throughout the month of June, featuring studio ‘late sessions’, exhibitions and talks across the architectural scene of London. This year, Xylotek have partnered again with Studio Saar and Webb Yates to revive and ‘reimagine’ the Craft Not Carbon pavilion. After the success of the pavilion in 2023, Studio Saar sought to add a reimagined structure with similar design features to their 2024 exhibition at the Crafts Council Gallery.  

Last year, the 2023 pavilion was erected at Crystal Palace Park, was designed by Webb Yates Engineers in collaboration with Studio Saar and Xylotek. The Craft Not Carbon pavilion, featuring a woven canopy sought new ways of thinking about structures. Responding to the challenges of our time, it questions, ‘Is local material, craft and maintenance a viable solution for the future of construction?’ By bringing this paradigm fresh into this years’ exhibition, Studio Saar asks us to ‘reimagine’ how our structures can be maintained by local craftspeople as a response to the climate and cost of living crises. Can we be active participants in maintaining our buildings to repair and rebuild our architecture?  

Team Xylotek crafted and installed the timber elements of the pavilion at the Crafts Council. By using a cantilever design to balance the roof structure on the asymmetrically aligned posts, the masonry elements ground the structure and give it stability. The woven triangular ‘sails’ are designed for repair, the theory being that using local, talented craftspeople to repair elements of the structure will bring income and prosperity.  

The London Festival of Architecture runs from June 7^th – 30^th. Read more about the festival and programme of events here.  
Studio Saar.  
Webb Yates Engineers.  
Crafts Council Gallery.  
The Stonemasonry Company.