BARDO

Bardo is an artwork commissioned by the British Council for the British Pavilion at the 18th Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2023.

The piece was crafted by melting down and recasting Between Forests and Skies, a low-carbon aluminium pavilion commissioned by the Victoria & Albert Museum in 2021. It embodies the concept of punarmṛtyu (Sanskrit for “re-death”) by transforming one form into another through destruction.

Bardo serves as a reminder that cultures, spaces, and objects can be circular and infinite, highlighting our connection to everything around us.

The artwork consisted of a series of aluminium panels cast iteratively around each other, creating a fluid and integrated patterned surface that reflects ideas of material and structural interdependence. The textures on the surface have been shaped by the sand used in the casting process