The sacred shelters of Mali in Francis Kéré’s latest pavilion

At Tippet Rise Art Centre in Montana there is a shelter to admire the landscape or meditate inspired by togunas, sanctuaries of Mali.  

Tippet Rise Art Centre Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019

Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Tippet Rise Art Centre Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019

Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Tippet Rise Art Centre Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019

Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Tippet Rise Art Centre Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019

Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Tippet Rise Art Centre Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019

Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Tippet Rise Art Centre Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019

Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Tippet Rise Art Centre Ensamble Studio (Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa), the Inverted Portal, 2016

Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Tippet Rise Art Centre Ensamble Studio (Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa), the Beartooth Portal, 2015

Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Tippet Rise Art Centre Ensamble Studio (Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa), the Domo, 2016

Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Tippet Rise Art Centre Mark di Suvero, Beethoven’s Quartet, 2003

Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Tippet Rise Art Centre Mark di Suvero, Proverb, 2002

Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Tippet Rise Art Centre Stephen Talasnik, Satellite No. 5: Pioneer, 2016

Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Tippet Rise Art Centre Alexander Calder, Two Discs, 1965, installed at Tippet Rise Art Center. On loan from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

© 2018 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Image courtesy of Tippet Rise Art Center. Photo Andre Costantini.

Tippet Rise Art Centre The Tiara acoustic shell

Image courtesy of Tippet Rise Art Center. Photo Liz Stetson

Tippet Rise Art Centre The interior of the Olivier Music Barn at Tippet Rise Art Center

Image courtesy of Tippet Rise Art Center. Photo Erik Petersen

Tippet Rise Art Centre Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019

Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Tippet Rise Art Centre Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019

Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Tippet Rise Art Centre Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019

Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Xylem is the new pavilion designed by architect Francis Kéré, inaugurated last weekend at Tippet Rise Art Centre, which opened in 2016 in Fishtail, Montana (USA), on a 12,000-acre area. The centre is a place where art, music, architecture and landscape merge together in a natural environment, a couple of hours away from Yellow Stone National Park. Founded by Cathy and Peter Halstead, both working in arts field, Tippet Rise includes spaces for performances, such as the Oliver Music Barn or the Tiara Acoustic Shell, spaces for relax and encounter, and large scale sculptures by artists Patrick Dougherty, Mark di Suvero, Stephen Talasnik, and Alexander Calder.

Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019. Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

The new pavilion by Kéré is a 195-square meters pavilion, a meeting point for people that offers stunning views on cotton trees or a place to stay peacefully alone. The design is a reference to the traditional togunas of the Dogon culture of Mali, made of wood and millet straw, and the pavilion’s name itself, Xylem, comes from plants: it is a type of transport tissue in vascular plants that brings water from roots to stems and leaves. The pavilion is a shelter that seems to be part of nature thanks to its organic shapes ispired by Cathy Halstead’s abstract paintings and the surrounding landscape. Curved wooden seating areas run around the pavilion, protected by a circular ceiling made of blocks of trunks that give a feeling of movement inside.

  • Xylem
  • Francis Kéré
  • Tippet Rise Art Centre
  • Fishtail, Montana, USA
Tippet Rise Art Centre Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019

Tippet Rise Art Centre Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019

Tippet Rise Art Centre Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019

Tippet Rise Art Centre Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019

Tippet Rise Art Centre Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019

Tippet Rise Art Centre Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019

Tippet Rise Art Centre Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Ensamble Studio (Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa), the Inverted Portal, 2016

Tippet Rise Art Centre Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Ensamble Studio (Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa), the Beartooth Portal, 2015

Tippet Rise Art Centre Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Ensamble Studio (Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa), the Domo, 2016

Tippet Rise Art Centre Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Mark di Suvero, Beethoven’s Quartet, 2003

Tippet Rise Art Centre Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Mark di Suvero, Proverb, 2002

Tippet Rise Art Centre Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Stephen Talasnik, Satellite No. 5: Pioneer, 2016

Tippet Rise Art Centre © 2018 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Image courtesy of Tippet Rise Art Center. Photo Andre Costantini.

Alexander Calder, Two Discs, 1965, installed at Tippet Rise Art Center. On loan from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Tippet Rise Art Centre Image courtesy of Tippet Rise Art Center. Photo Liz Stetson

The Tiara acoustic shell

Tippet Rise Art Centre Image courtesy of Tippet Rise Art Center. Photo Erik Petersen

The interior of the Olivier Music Barn at Tippet Rise Art Center

Tippet Rise Art Centre Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019

Tippet Rise Art Centre Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019

Tippet Rise Art Centre Image courtesy of Tippet Rise/Iwan Baan. Photo Iwan Baan

Francis Kéré designed Xylem at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, 2019