er pavilion

with Brendan Moore, Melissa Cameron, Syrinx + ICS Australia

2023 Fremantle Biennale SIGNALS

Under the shadow of the Roundhouse and adjacent to the swelling Wardan (ocean) briefly sat the Er pavilion – a design collaboration between Whadjuk Noongar Traditional Owner Brendan Moore, jeweller Melissa Cameron, Nature-based Technology, Innovation and Solutions by Syrinx, and builder/principal sponsor ICS Australia. This temporal pavilion connected communities, ephemeral structures, disparate fragments, and time using the theme subSignals. It used a process of layering palimpsest, patterns, and poetry – a macro/micro orchestration that investigated place to bring the pavilion to life.

The proposition was a straightforward assembly of components, each repurposed after the Biennale. Crafted from remnant timbers salvaged from the Fremantle Port's A-shed, tethered to the quarried limestone ground by its own weight, covered by a shimmering, billowing ceiling animated by Walyalup keniny (winds) – and adorned with washed-up detritus threads from Bathers Beach.

Atop the structure, a solar desalination system siphoned the salt water, with Ngarngk (Noongar word for mother/sun) separating water and salt so the pavilion's guests could be replenished.

For more about the Er Pavilion

Builder & Principal Sponsor

ICS Australia

Sponsors

Alti Lighting

Archae Aus

City of Fremantle

F-Cubed

Forth Consulting

University of Notre Dame, Architecture

University of Notre Dame , Dr Linda Davies

vA Project team