Circle Forum: Modular Timber Pavilions for Munich's Aging Population

What does a city owe its oldest residents? Not a bench at the edge of a park, not a quiet corner to sit alone, but a genuine public forum: a place where aging and belonging are not contradictions. Circle Forum takes that question seriously, proposing a lightweight circular timber pavilion in Munich's English Garden that shifts its program with the seasons, hosting outdoor film screenings in summer and framing an ice rink in winter, all calibrated to the pace, scale, and social needs of elderly communities.

Designed by Yajie He, Zhichao Ma, Shi Yin, and Shuai Tang, Circle Forum was shortlisted in the Huddle competition on uni.xyz. The project responds to a pointed observation: urban areas lack dedicated spaces that cater to elderly populations, and the result is social exclusion at precisely the moment when community matters most. Rather than a monumental intervention, the team proposes a constellation of small, prefabricated pavilions deployed across Munich, each one a micro-construction hub designed for rapid assembly, minimal environmental impact, and maximum social return.

Curved Timber Arches at Human Scale

The pavilion's defining gesture is a series of curved timber arches that create a sheltered yet open enclosure on a central lawn. Prefabricated wooden elements form the primary structure, their arched profiles softening the relationship between built form and the mature trees of the English Garden. The result is a space that feels less like a building dropped into a park and more like a natural clearing given architectural definition. Visitors gather on the lawn beneath these arches, which provide shade without blocking sightlines to the surrounding landscape.

In winter, the interior transforms dramatically. Floor-to-ceiling glazing encloses portions of the pavilion, creating warm seating areas that look out onto a skating rink formed on the central lawn. A snowman visible through the glass captures the seasonal spirit, but the design logic is more deliberate than whimsical: warm enclosures paired with active outdoor programming ensure that the space remains occupied and socially vibrant even in Munich's cold months. Coffee and snack zones line the perimeter, turning spectators into participants in a shared communal ritual.

Tectonic Logic: Radial Beams and Scalable Modules

The section drawing reveals how the arched timber structure negotiates its site. The pavilion sits lightly among mature trees, its curved roofline dropping below the canopy to avoid competing with existing vegetation. This is not accidental: the lightweight construction system is rooted in tectonic logic, using easy-to-lap wooden structures, movable walls, and scalable modules that can be assembled and disassembled without scarring the park landscape or increasing carbon footprints. The axonometric drawing makes this legibility even more explicit, exposing a roof constructed from radial beams converging on a central ring, supported by timber columns that read as a forest of their own.

The seasonal usage diagram illustrates the pavilion's programmatic flexibility. In summer: outdoor film screenings, exhibitions, and concerts. In winter: the ice rink configuration with warm perimeter zones. Year-round: lectures, forums, performances, and family events. The layout accommodates outdoor and indoor forums, exhibition corridors, and multi-use pavilions for art, dance, and learning. Each configuration is a variation on the same structural kit of parts, proving that modular architecture need not be monotonous when its circular geometry allows radial subdivision and recombination.

A Constellation of Gathering Spots Across Munich

The aerial dusk view positions the illuminated circular pavilion at the threshold between urban fabric and parkland, a location that is strategic rather than scenic. Each Circle Forum is envisioned not as a standalone object but as part of a larger urban architecture strategy: small yet significant interventions mapped across Munich that bring cultural infrastructure into the daily routes of urban life. The designers call this principle "diversity into the city," and the decentralized network of forums is meant to foster accessibility, visibility, and engagement for populations who might never venture to a centralized cultural institution.

Seen from above at dusk, the pavilion glows like a hearth. That metaphor is earned. The warm light radiating outward through the timber structure and glazed enclosures signals activity, welcome, and presence. For elderly residents navigating a fast-paced city that often overlooks them, the sight of a lit gathering space on their evening walk is not a minor detail. It is the entire argument.

Why This Project Matters

Circle Forum resists the common tendency to treat aging populations as a problem to be warehoused in specialized facilities. Instead, it embeds elderly social life directly within the public realm, using architecture that is genuinely open, seasonally adaptive, and structurally honest. The prefabricated timber system keeps construction impact low and deployment speed high, making the proposal replicable without becoming generic. Its circular geometry is not mere formalism; it eliminates hierarchical front-back orientations, encouraging the kind of egalitarian, face-to-face interaction that the word "forum" implies.

What makes this shortlisted entry compelling is its refusal to be just one building. The proposal scales from a single pavilion in the English Garden to a city-wide network of inclusive gathering spots, each tuned to local conditions and seasonal rhythms. He, Ma, Yin, and Tang demonstrate that addressing demographic shifts does not require grand gestures or expensive infrastructure. It requires attentiveness to who is missing from public space and the design intelligence to invite them back.

View the Full Project

About the Designers

Designers: YAJIE HE, ZHICHAO MA, SHI YIN, SHUAI TANG

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Project credits: Design for Huddle-Circle Forum by YAJIE HE, ZHICHAO MA, SHI YIN, SHUAI TANG Huddle (uni.xyz).