Frame to Folly: Modular Timber Pavilion Moves from Pittsburgh Carnival Gateway to Neighborhood Teahouse

Key facts

• Frame to Folly is a modular timber pavilion designed for disassembly, transport, and reconfiguration in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• It was developed by Carnegie Mellon University's student-led Architectural Crafts Collective and Pittsburgh-based PARTlab (Laboratory for Radical Participatory Design).
• The project forms part of a year-long partnership with local nonprofit Neighborhood Allies.
• It was initially assembled as a gateway for Pittsburgh's annual Spring Carnival and later moved to a neighborhood tea shop's backyard as public furniture and an open-air teahouse.
• The structure uses vertical timber frames connected by interchangeable infill panels that double as seats, tables, backrests, and awnings.
• The pavilion was prefabricated, flat-packed, transported to the festival site, joined on the ground, and raised without heavy equipment; bright orange infill panels were secured with removable hardware.
• After its use at the tea shop, the structure will be gifted to another community or disassembled and donated to a material bank operated by the neighboring public library.
• The design team includes Sydney Mansavage, Emma Phelps, Tai Le, Gaetan Pelletey, Hazel Buonopane, Jason Asiedu, Neal Lucas Hitch, and Kristina Fisher.