FRAME BY FRAME

Carnegie Mellon—Architecture
Spring Carnival Pavilion 2026

Design & Management Team: Tai Le, Gaëtan Pelletier, Jessica Adenuga, Hazel Buonopane, Sydney Mansavage, Emma Phelps, Jason Asiedu

Build Team: Mahi Agarwal, Bo Ahn, Jessica Daley, Ali Delorenzo, Lily Frank, Hazel Froling, Max Hong, William Ivansco, Seán Kelleher, Paul Li, Alice Liu, Lora Marks, Tori Morris, Vaibhav Panchal, Varsha Prasanna Kumar, Bella Salazar Harper, Kai Shaw, Jacey Shi, Kestral Shi, Justin Song, Steven Sontag, Mara Storey, Nicholas Thies, Theo Tran, Anvika Vasireddy, Sophia Vasquez, Max Whalley, Zifei Zhang, Bianca Zou

Instructors: Kristina Fisher, Neal Lucas Hitch
Pittsburgh, PA, USA | Spring 2026

Spring Carnival at Carnegie Mellon University is one of the largest annual traditions, transforming the campus into a vibrant festival of entertainment, performance, and collective engagement. Within this context, the School of Architecture takes on the role of designing and building a pavilion each year as a gateway, marking the threshold to a sequence of playful and immersive environments. More than a temporary structure, the pavilion becomes a design-build experiment where students actively translate ideas into reality through material, structure, and fabrication.

The 2026 pavilion is conceived as a spatial transition, where architecture is no longer a static object but an unfolding sequence of experiences. The roof and envelope are composed of layered elements that create apertures for light and framed views, mediating between interior and exterior. Rather than simply passing through, visitors are guided through moments of shifting light, materiality, and spatial scale, forming a continuous perception of movement and depth.

Tectonically, the pavilion explores a timber system rooted in American framing, assembled through a series of collective “barn-raising” processes that reflect the communal spirit of Spring Carnival. Components are prefabricated in parts and assembled on site, allowing both construction flexibility and clarity of structural logic. The envelope operates as a multi-layered membrane, balancing solid surfaces and openings where vegetation weaves into the structure as a living element. Through this integration, the pavilion becomes not only a temporary gateway but a hybrid space between architecture, landscape, and collective experience.