What is the Value of Temporary Design

In our last class of Contemporary European Architecture we discussed the importance of temporary architecture in the design field today.  One question that kept coming back to my mind during class was the question of whether or not architects should be putting great thought into designing temporary pieces of architecture if they are going to be taken down anyway.  I came to the conclusion that whether these pieces of architecture are going to be taken down or not, they should have the same design process as a normal building. 

What does temporary mean?  Temporary, in terms of a building, can be described as something that is built with the knowledge that one day the building will be taken down.  In this day and age, a building is not built to stand for 500 years, therefore, in a way, a buildings are temporary in a sense.  If you think about a building in that way, then all buildings deserve the same design process, because all space need to have thought put into them to be impacting spaces nonetheless.

A good example of a well designed temporary structure is the German Pavilion by Mies van der Rohe in Barcelona.  This Pavilion was built in 1929 at the International Exhibition.  The pavilion was torn down in 1930, as it was to be a temporary exhibit at the exhibition.  The pavilion was revolutionary in its design and a true masterpiece.  It was lost for many years but was rebuilt in 1983 to the architect’s specifications.  The fact that this building was so influential in its year of existence shows how well designed it was by Mies.  I would argue that a temporary piece of architecture like this can be just as influential as any other “permanent” building.  It the building invokes emotion and feeling within the viewer then it is a successful building, whether it is there for 2 months or 20 years.
The Serpentine Pavilion in London is a great example of why temporary exhibits should warrant the same depth of design that longer term buildings do.  Each year a new pavilion is designed to go in the same place.  The great thing about this is that it invites completely different design styles to take place on the same site every year.  This way, the site has a fresh new feeling every year with the new pavilion.  Every pavilion has its own specific style and specific strengths in design.  If a pavilion were placed there that was undesigned and never rethought, this area would be much less interesting.  The refreshing new designs make for an experience that  cannot happens many other places because a new building gets built every year.
I believe that temporary buildings should be designed as equally as longer term buildings.  All buildings will one day come down, it is just a matter of when they will come down.  Therefore, we need to put thought into every structure that is designed so that all architecture can make meaningful moves to impact the viewers.  This allows for interesting design situation since it is a temporary structure.