Ruth Lilly Visitors Pavilion

Architect: Marlon Blackwell Architects
Landscape Architects: The Landscape Studio / NINebark
General Contractor: Geupel DeMars Hagerman
Structural Engineer: Guy Nordenson & Associates
Consulting Engineers: L'Acquis Consulting Engineers / Cripe Architects & Engineers
Location: Indianapolis, IN

A single-room glass pavilion on a river floodplain, elevated on steel, set in the woods, approached by an ascent that lifts you from grade before you enter the building. Sounds like Farnsworth House, but it's the Ruth Lilly Visitors Pavilion, where a similar motif is worked out for a flood-prone site. Here along the White River, there was only a half-acre to build on, so the pavilion gives way to the water. Bermed into the slope and floated above the ground, it lets surges pass beneath. A slatted wood skin folds from deck to wall to roof, open enough to let light and rain fall through. Where a sealed glass box resists the weather, this screen accepts it and fits into the site. It rests so lightly it looks ready to lift off the forest floor.