This is the first image of the 2009 Serpentine Pavilion, designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA.
Describing their structure, the architects said: ‘The pavilion is floating aluminium, drifting freely between the trees like smoke. The reflective canopy undulates across the site, expanding the park and sky. Its appearance changes according to the weather, allowing it to melt into the surroundings. It works as a field of activity with no walls, allowing views to extend uninterrupted across the park and encouraging access from all sides. It is a sheltered extension of the park where people can read, relax and enjoy lovely summer days.’ The pavilion opens in July and will remain in place outside the Serpentine Gallery’s until October. The pavilion will be the architects’ first built structure in the UK and the ninth commission in the gallery’s annual series of pavilions. The pair, whose New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York opened last year, will work alongside structural engineering firm SAPS and an Arup team led by David Glover and Ed Clark with Cecil Balmond. The SANAA pavilion, sponsored by NetJets, will be the ninth built as part of the annual programme, which gives international stars the chance to make their UK debut. Previous pavilions have been designed by Frank Gehry (2008), Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura with Balmond (2005), Oscar Niemeyer (2003), Daniel Libeskind (2001) and Zaha Hadid (2000). Julia Peyton-Jones, director, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, co-director at the Serpentine Gallery, said: ‘Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa’s design embraces the parkland around the Serpentine Gallery as never before with an extraordinarily innovative design, which reveals the subtle play on light and perception so characteristic of their work. This pavilion will be a wonderful addition to London’s landscape this summer. It is our dream come true.’
The Architects' Journal
