London’s Serpentine Galleries Reveal Design for 15th Annual Pavilion

A rendering of the pavilion by night. Photo: The Serpentine Gallery, London

London’s Serpentine Galleries have revealed the design for the institution’s 15th annual summer Pavilion.

Madrid-based architects SelgasCano have released preliminary images showing an amorphous, double-skinned, polygonal structure consisting of translucent, multi-colored fabric membrane made of EFTE panels woven through. (See: Spanish Firm SelgasCano Will Design the 15th Serpentine Pavilion.)

Visitors will be able to pass through the structure via one of the multiple entrances or pass between the outer and inner layer of the building to admire the Pavilion’s stained glass interior.

“We are proud to work with SelgasCano in this, the 15th year of a commission unique in the western world that continues to showcase some of the boldest and innovative designs in contemporary architecture internationally,” Serpentine Galleries Director Julia Peyton-Jones and Co-Director Hans Ulrich Obrist said in a joint statement. “We can’t wait to go inside to experience the light diffused through the colored panels like stained glass windows.”

Describing their design, the architects added, “We sought a way to allow the public to experience architecture through simple elements: structure, light, transparency, shadows, lightness, form, sensitivity, change, surprise, color and materials. We have therefore designed a Pavilion which incorporates all of these elements. The spatial qualities of the Pavilion only unfold when accessing the structure and being immersed within it.”

The Pavilion will once again host events featuring art, poetry, music, film, and literature on Friday nights between July and September.

Previous architects who have designed the annual pavilion include illustrious names such as Zaha Hadid, Oscar Niemeyer, Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, and Rem Koolhaas.


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