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The lightness, flexibility, impermeability, rot resistance, and biodegradability of birch bark allowed pre-industrial societies in Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America thousands of years ago to manufacture containers, utensils, canoes, and protective coverings. This multifunctional capacity—similar to what we now associate with modern plastic, yet natural and bio-based—is what studiofrege + WERCK have harnessed to create Rotunda × Betula, a pavilion for festivals and biennials in 2026 designed to trigger a memorable spatial and social experience.
The pavilion’s skin is composed of 342 identical square panels of white birch bark, covering a circular structure five meters high and five meters wide made of reclaimed wood. Inside the circular space, the brown backing of the birch bark softens the sound, creating conditions conducive to concentration and contemplation. The pavilion invites visitors to linger and connect within, functioning both as a meeting point and a platform for events.
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During the development process, a vertical axis of the pavilion was erected at a 1:1 scale to test the construction principle and spatial effect.
The square modules, measuring 450 mm × 450 mm, are made of three-layer birch plywood. Pre-assembled, they can be manufactured from start to finish in a standard workshop and easily transported to the site in light vehicles. Once on site, the components are designed to be assembled and secured with connectors made from specially developed scrap wood, in collaboration with engineer Wataru Furuya (BLS ENGR). These connectors automatically provide the correct spacing to achieve the circular shape, allowing for easy assembly and disassembly. Recycled wood can be incorporated into the structural base depending on availability, and a dark wood finish can be applied to unify the appearance of materials from diverse origins.
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If harvested carefully, birch bark can be obtained without harming the trees, or even from naturally detached pieces and waste from other processes. This makes it a renewable resource that can be collected without felling the tree itself. However, its applications remain very limited. In the case of Rotunda × Betula, the material is reinterpreted using contemporary manufacturing methods. The plywood panels are produced by applying heat and pressure to multiple layers of birch bark, forming a dense and stable material. Thanks to their cross-pressed construction, the panels gain structural capacity and can be used in composite building systems.
While research on the birch bark building material was conducted by Samuel Barckhausen at the Building Institute in Braunschweig, Germany, under the direction of Prof. Dr. Helga Blocksdorf, the plywood was developed and tested specifically for this application in collaboration with Tim Mergelsberg, a materials researcher and birch bark supplier, and Sagaan, Görlitz.
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Katharina Benjamin, Lina Thürer, and Tom Erdmann form studiofrege. Katharina Benjamin studied architecture at Bauhaus University Weimar and founded the digital architecture platform Kontextur. Lina Thürer studied architecture at the Technical University of Munich, the Technical University of Berlin, and the University of Illinois at Chicago, and focuses on the transformation and reuse of existing structures. Tom Erdmann studied architecture at Bauhaus University Weimar and the Washington-Alexandria Center for Architecture, and has worked internationally in Tel Aviv, San Francisco, Oslo, and Berlin.
Samuel Barckhausen and Nora Noack form werck.workshop. Samuel Barckhausen studied architecture at the Berlin University of the Arts and ETH Zurich and researches biogenic building materials at the Technical University of Braunschweig. Nora Noack studied architecture at the Berlin University of the Arts and Musashino Art University in Tokyo and has worked with Kengo Kuma and Ortner & Ortner Baukunst.
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