‘The Smile’ by Alison Brooks Architects has been presented with the ‘display’ award at the 2017 world architecture festival. the project was one of the london design festival’s landmark projects, and was designed to be inhabited and explored by the public. effectively a beam curving up at both ends, the spectacular, curved, tubular timber structure measured 3.5m high, 4.5m wide, and 34m long. showcasing the structural and spatial potential of cross-laminated american tulipwood, the smile was the first ever ‘mega-tube’ made with construction-sized panels of hardwood CLT. At the world architecture festival in berlin, designboom spoke with alison brooks about her involvement in this year’s event, why she thinks the public should be involved in discussions about architecture, and being female in a male-dominated field.