The FAST 2025 Pavilion was unveiled at the “G.M. Cantacuzino” Faculty of Architecture in Iași, marking the completion of a collective building process carried out during the festival’s #BuildUp week. Visitors discovered three distinct volumes that were designed and constructed through the joint effort of students from Romania’s five architecture schools, working under the guidance of their tutor professors. The opening moment became both a public celebration of intense work and a clear demonstration of what collaboration can produce when responsibilities and trust are shared.
Conceived as a long-lasting structure, the FAST Pavilion was designed to remain in place for five years, until FAST, Architecture Schools of Tomorrow, returned to Iași. Rather than functioning as a temporary installation, it was positioned as a flexible, practical space meant to serve students and professors alike. Over time, it was expected to host educational and recreational activities and to remain open to the community as a platform for meeting, learning, and informal exchange.
The pavilion opening was accompanied by an exhibition presented by the host school, the “G.M. Cantacuzino” Faculty of Architecture. Bringing together student work from all years of study, the exhibition offered a snapshot of the faculty’s identity and pedagogical directions, and it provided an essential context for the environment in which the pavilion’s ideas and methods took shape.
At every FAST edition, the five participating schools collaborated on designing and building a pavilion with the aim of activating the city and inviting local communities to reflect on architecture beyond the classroom. In Iași, the 2025 pavilion continued this tradition by translating the festival theme, Becoming Trustworthy, Architecture as a Framework for Collaboration and Trust, into a built structure. The project showed how trust was developed through coordinated teamwork, a shared construction timeline, and the commitment to deliver something useful for others, not just for the duration of the festival, but for the years that followed.
A short video featuring voices from those involved in the pavilion was available here: https://www.facebook.com/reel/2220888915089506
Photo credit: Ionuț Dohotariu, Matei Ana Maria
