The German Pavilion for the Goethe Institute

Prologue

For the past nine years, the city of Calicut has come together to celebrate the Kerala Literature Festival (KLF). The festival unfolds across four days against the dramatic backdrop of the Arabian Sea. KLF draws over 5 lakh visitors, transforming the coastline into a vibrant cultural landscape. With Germany being the guest nation this year, it opened a unique opportunity to reimagine the deep-rooted relationship between Germany and Kerala.

Origins and Exchange

Challenging the notion of the pavilion as fleeting, we turned towards the roots — to the early beginnings of Indo-German connections. Tracing the path of arrival of the Basel missionaries in Calicut in 1830, we return to a moment that initiated this relationship.

Reimagining the Pavilion

With memory becoming the form, we reimagined the pavilion to be a temporal home by the beach — a space that holds stories, craft, and moments in quiet continuity. The contrast between the ephemerality of the pavilion and the enduring elegance of a home lends the space a sense of warmth and familiarity within the vibrant intensity of the festival.

Drawing from the geometry of the sail, the pavilion unfolds through angled planes responding to the openness of the beach front. The warmth of Kerala homes is reflected in the pavilion through an imaginative coming together of movement, memory, and shelter.

Memory to Matter

The pavilion translates memory into space, an encounter into remembrance, and remembrance into a lived experience.

Craft as Culture

Locally sourced bamboo forms the primary structural layer of the pavilion. The soft partitions with, paaya (woven dried bamboo) mats, korra fabric, terracotta tiles, timber,are rooted in local craftsmanship. Each layer was assembled through local skill, always allowing the natural form to come through.
The pavilion housed conversations, reading rooms, a kitchen, and a performance space each defined by softer thresholds. The spatial choreography, often separated by threaded screens, fabrics, and floor patterns, quietly bridged history, people, and everyday experiences.

Akshay Heranjal, Arpita Pai , Aditi Pai, Nishita Bhatia, Jaikumar, Aravind Vankadaru , Priyanka Joshi, Nivya Joseph, Santhan Kerlepalli, Prajakta Barve, Swaraj Jadhao, Jaival Kansara, Mrunalni Vijay, Aziz Rajani, Janav Parekh,
Siddharth Waze, Babitha Yeldho.