Pavilion and Garden
Vermont, 1992
During a ten-year period, Michael Singer worked on the design of a twenty-acre site in Southern Vermont, constructing a pond, changing topography and re-naturalizing plantings. The long-term project culminated with the design and construction of a pavilion overlooking the pond. The twenty-acre site is accessible on pathways through farm fields. Large quantities of earth removed for construction of the pond were used to build a small hill at the northern end of the pond. The pavilion is built at the southern end of the site. A low-ceilinged entryway opens into a 14' x 20' room extending over the pond edge. Built of thick wooden planks, glass and screening, the pavilion also contains furniture designed by Singer.

Artist/Designer: Michael Singer
Project Manager: Sterling McMurrin
Builders: Alan Chapman and Paul Tuller
Photo Credit: David Stansbury

Pond Pavilion
Worcester, Massachusetts, 1999
In 1996 Michael Singer formed a design team with Blackbird Architects to provide schematic diagrams, concept drawings and models for the expansion and reconfiguration of the New England Science Center, now named EcoTarium. The current facility was designed by Edward Durrel Stone and built in 1968. The project also includes renovation of the existing building, new exhibitions, animal habitat exhibitions, as well as a new site plan for nature trails, parking areas, traffic circulation, and reconstructed wetlands. For the Center's lower pond, Singer invited architect Daniel Johnson to join him in the design of a pavilion which also functions as a small bridge across the pond outlet stream. The pavilion provides a scenic stopping point along the woodland trail. Vines have been planted to climb the columns and trellis, and birds roost in the eaves. The pavilion site is interpreted by the EcoTarium as a place for visitors to contemplate the many types of human constructions that provide close contact with natural environments. The open structure of the pavilion frames views onto the pond and into the woodlands. A semi-circular teak and steel bench is large enough for a school group to gather for special programs.

Artist/Designer: Michael Singer
Design Team: Daniel Johnson, Peter Vandertuin
Builders: Craig Maldonado, Matt Hughes
EcoTarium Director: Laura Myers
EcoTarium Director of Programs and Exhibitions: Dolores Root
Photography: David Stansbury

Conway Tree Pavilion
Conway, Massachusetts, 2004
Former Smith College President Jill Ker Conway commissioned Michael Singer to create a Tree Pavilion within her sculptural garden that was designed and built by Singer in 2001. This distinctive site is a terraced woodland lot with mature pine trees and small ponds at two levels of the site. The new Tree Pavilion is nestled between trees over one of the ponds on the same site where Ms. Conway had a former writing studio. The studio was removed in 2003 and replaced with the Tree Pavilion, a spare contemplative shelter 14' x 16' with a planted roof and stone walkways. The pavilion has built-in furniture and panels of opening screens.

Artist/Designer: Michael Singer
Project Manager: David Loomis
Builders: David Loomis, Peter Vandertuin, Eric Slayton, Rob Guerrina, Bob Hannum
Stone Walls: Luis Pagano
Drafting: John Guminak, Jason Bregman
Photography: David Stansbury

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