Inner Forest Pavilion Made From Thousands of Pine Cones Springs Up in Norway

During his stay as an Artist-in-Residence at the <a href="http://www.nkdale.no/index.html" target="_blank">Nordic Artists' Centre Dalsåsen</a>, mexican architect <a href="http://www.x-studio.tv/" target="_blank">Iván Juárez</a> went about collecting thousands of pine cones to build Inner Forest, the striking cylindrical pavilion you see above. Built from the seeds of the forest, one day the pavilion will return to the earth and replenish the trees they came from. Inner Forest was created by carefully stacking the pine cones to make an enclosure that wraps the viewer in the textures of the forest and directs their view up through the canopy to the sky.

Iván Juárez, founder and principal of Mexican firm, <a href="http://www.x-studio.tv/" target="_blank">x.studio</a> was part of the 2011 A-I-R program at <a href="http://www.nkdale.no/aboutnkd.html" target="_blank">Centre Dalsåsen</a>.

The art center is located on the west coast of Norway where a range of landscapes interconnect. Juárez enjoyed the fjords, forests, the ocean, rivers, waterfalls, and mountains.

His creation then is directly inspired by nature and is a reflection of a connection to the fjords landscape.

His relationship with the environment was the essence of the work.

These seeds of the forest were carefully stacked to make a semi-enclosed cylinder that envelops the viewer in the textures of the forest.

Stepping inside, the pavilion directs the view up and out of the top towards the forest canopy and the sky beyond.

The pavilion is as much about the act of its creation as it is about the final produce. The architect spend time walking through the forest - observing, collecting and reflecting.

Then using the materials of nature, he constructed the structure, which will over time be returned to the earth to bring new life to the forest.