The Pangolin Shield is one of the installations at the London Design Festival. Studio Saar and Atelier One have combined an engineered structure with craft traditions from northeast India.
The pavilion stands in the pedestrianised Strand Aldwych area and is open from September 12 to 20, with free admission. It creates a shaded place for passers-by to pause and spend time together.
Its bamboo frame is covered with traditional woven police shields and knups, rain shields used by farmers in northeast India. The overlapping elements resemble a pangolin’s scales, giving the project its name.
The designers reinterpret objects of protection as a shared shelter. The work also explores how familiar handmade objects can become part of contemporary urban architecture.
Studio Saar developed the project with engineers Atelier One. The Node Company contributed to the joints for the bamboo structure, accommodating natural variations between stems that cannot be made identical like factory-produced components.
The installation offers more than an unusual form. It draws attention to makers’ knowledge, the properties of a natural material and new ways to apply them in public spaces.
