Kumar Bahukhandi
Pentad Pavilion—a parliament and playground in one—moves this week to India Art Fair 2026 in New Delhi after a star turn at ADFF:STIR Mumbai. The pavilion, designed by international architecture and design firm UHA, was one of ten curated from 75 entries by Aric Chen, Director of the Zaha Hadid Foundation, with a distinguished jury panel consisting of Hans Ulrich Obrist, Lesley Lokko OBE, Raj Rewal, Ma Yansong, and Martha Thorne, and is the only one to make its way to India Art Fair.
 |
UHA’s Pentad Pavillion on exhibition last month at ADFF:STIR in Mumbai, The Pavilion will be exhibited this week at India Art Fair in Delhi
“With the pavilion, we wanted to reimagine the spaces where decisions are made by bringing together five global modes of assembly: circular, semicircular, horseshoe, opposing benches and classroom,” said Joseph R. Goodwin, UHA’s design lead on the project. “Pentad is about observation, participation, and belonging – and after seeing all the ways visitors interacted at ADFF:STIR Mumbai last month, we’re excited to see continued provocation through play in its second home.”
The competition for ADFF:STIR asked how architecture can frame new social relations, exploring the ties between space, movement and event. Pentad, a two level structure which is 41 square meters and stands 6.4 meters high, takes inspiration from the new Indian parliament, one of almost 100 UN member states to have explored post-colonial identity through a rebalancing of colour, materiality, symbolism, and tradition. The pavilion and the parliament will stand a mere ten kilometres apart for the duration of India Art Fair, bridging the gap between play and politics.
The pavilion design explores the effect of combining the five modes of plenary spaces, allowing visitors the opportunity to explore, engage, and experiment within these modes while they are wrapped, overlapped, or stacked. Pentad mirrors a bicameral approach while being designed to be reconfigurable. Seating, shading, and the play of proximity and transparency dissolve the binary nature of the chambers, becoming multi-cameral and supporting all five modes of meeting.
A hidden system of talk tubes is woven through the structure, enabling visitors to listen and participate, eavesdrop and interrupt. Antechambers become crawl spaces, slides can be fitted to disrupt the rowed seating, and lower chamber swing hooks can be used to hang a new form of judicial seating.
The brief for the initial pavilion design encouraged the team to think beyond a monofunctional space, actively considering its afterlife. Pentad is now in the first phase of that afterlife, making its journey to Delhi after its successful debut in the Jaquar Pavilion Park at ADFF:STIR 2026, in Mumbai. Pentad is supported by STIR for its exhibition at India Art Fair.
Beyond the meaning that the pavilion itself embodies, one important factor for its satisfactory realisation was its public use. Pentad hosted numerous workshops and talks as a part of ADFF:STIR Mumbai’s public programme. Halfway across the country, in New Delhi, Pentad retains its essence by lending itself to public discourse at the India Art Fair. It will offer a space for all its visitors to explore their curiosities.
About UHA
UHA designs and delivers projects that vary in context, function, and scale, encompassing architecture, masterplanning, landscaping, environmental services and interior design. From concept design to turnkey challenges, we have projects on-site from London to Taipei, covering boutique residential towers and luxury villas to high-tech workspaces and educational institutions.
Our asynchronous approach means that somewhere we are always open. Distributed across 7 time zones, our team of architects, designers, urbanists, visualisers, sustainability consultants, and project managers design and deliver projects around the clock. As office hours draw to a close in Tokyo, work continues in Mumbai and construction sites open in London. With multiple projects currently under construction across 3 continents, our multi-nodal studio provides a variety of services within an accelerated timeline.
For more information, visit www.uha.global.
For press inquiries and interview requests, please write to mumbai@uh-architects.com.
