A bold new structure has appeared in Cary Park in Cary, North Carolina: the latest sculptural pavilion by Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY. The work is titled “L’Ile Folie,” which nods to the architectural tradition of the folly, a landscape feature that was all the rage with wealthy estate owners in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Often nostalgic and resembling ruined miniature castles or bucolic village buildings, follies were generally non-functional and conceived as pure decoration. Fornes, however, reimagines this practice with an eye toward the future rather than the past. The pavilion “gives this tradition a contemporary meaning: memorable, playful, and slightly surreal,” says a statement.

Fornes is known for creating high-tech structures made from thousands of individual facets, blurring the distinction between architecture and sculpture. Situated along a boardwalk and perched over a pond, the gleaming white pavilion invites visitors to pause and appreciate their natural surroundings from a contemporary landmark.

“Constructed from ultra-thin folded aluminum panels, each piece is digitally fabricated and precisely riveted into place,” says a statement. “There is no hidden frame; the skin is the structure. Thousands of perforations filter sunlight into delicate patterns, turning the canopy into an ever-changing atmosphere of shadow and shimmer.”

See more on THEVERYMANY’s Instagram and Vimeo.

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