In the run-up to its major new exhibit on the products and legacy of world&#x92;s fairs, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art put out a challenge: Design and build a temporary pavilion that would stand impressively on museum grounds and reflect the spirit of innovation and modernity those global expositions have long represented.</p><p>Fifteen proposals came forward, and now the museum has selected a winner: a project team led by a Kansas City architecture firm, Generator Studio.</p><p>Called &#x93;Sun Pavilion,&#x94; Generator&#x92;s plan combines art, public engagement, design simplicity and solar power.</p><p>Incorporating three standard shipping containers and an open-air series of angular canopies made of solar panels, the project will be built on the south end of the museum grounds. Highly visible along Cleaver Boulevard, the pavilion also will serve to extend the reach of the exhibit, &#x93;Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World&#x92;s Fairs: 1851-1939,&#x94; providing spaces for supplementary material, educational information and interaction.</p><p>&#x93;&#8201;&#x91;Sun Pavilion&#x92; embodied our vision most closely to activate the museum campus, especially from the street, and open up a discussion about design, innovation and architecture,&#x94; said Catherine Futter, the museum&#x92;s curator of decorative arts.</p><p>Futter and fellow jurors chose the Generator proposal from a group of five finalists. Each team made a presentation last week to the jurors, Nelson staff members and others. One participant in the selection process, the Bloch Building architect Steven Holl, who was traveling, reviewed digital slide-show presentations from each team.</p><p>The pavilion is scheduled to be installed in time for the opening of the World&#x92;s Fair exhibit, April 14, and remain in place until it closes, Aug. 19.</p><p>Museum officials were pleased by the conversation and feedback prompted by the proposal process, which began in November.</p><p> &#x93;In looking at all the proposals that were submitted, we saw the deep commitment to the craft of design,&#x94; said Juli&#xE1;n Zugazagoitia, the museum&#x92;s director and CEO. &#x93;We were very impressed with the collaborations that formed as the result of our request for proposals and the abilities of all the finalists to reach out to different fields of expertise to contribute to this project.&#x94;</p><p>Each team was working with a relatively tiny $20,000 budget from the museum, but most found ways to supplement that with donated materials and other services.</p><p>Generator Studio is a small practice headed by architect Tom Proebstle and his partner Mike Kress. Their project team members include structural engineers Thornton Thomasetti, Prosser Wilbert Construction, solar-specialists Brightergy and a Los Angeles artist, Tim Gratkowski. Gratkowski frequently makes sculpture from recycled material, and his part of the proposal includes engaging the community in an art-making project within one of the open-ended containers.</p><p>&#x93;This project is a great community activator,&#x94; Holl said in a statement, adding that it &#x93;clearly demonstrates the power of solar energy.&#x94;</p><p>Generator Studio and the other finalists have been invited to present their plans in a forum at 7:45 p.m. March 1 in the Atkins auditorium. The format will be in the <span class="italic">pecha kucha</span> style &#x97; 20 images from each team shown and discussed for 20 seconds each.