Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, by Peter Zumthor, 2011 - in London, UK
The concept for 2011 Pavilion is the hortus conclusus, a contemplative room, a garden within a garden. One enters the building from the lawn and begins the transition into the central garden, a place abstracted from the world of noise and traffic and the smells of London - an interior space within which to sit, to walk, to observe the flowers.
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, by Peter Zumthor, 2011
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, by Jean Nouvel, 2010
Serpentine Gallery, by Jean Nouvel, 2010 - in London, UK
The Pavilion is a contrast of lightweight materials and dramatic metal cantilevered structures. The entire design is rendered in a vivid red that, in a play of opposites, contrasts with the green of its park setting. In London, the colour reflects the iconic British images of traditional telephone boxes, post boxes and London buses.
Serpentine Gallery, by Kazuyo Sejima & Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA), 2009 - in London, UK
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 uninterrupted view 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.
Serpentine Gallery, by Frank Gehry, 2008 - in London, UK
Gehry and his team took inspiration for the Pavilion from a fascinating variety of sources including the elaborate wooden catapults designed by Leonardo da Vinci as well as the striped walls of summer beach huts. Part-amphitheatre, part-promenade, these seemingly random elements make a transformative place for reflection and relaxation by day, and discussion and performance by night.
Serpentine Gallery, by Olafur Eliasson and Kjetil Thorsen , 2007 - in London, UK
This timberclad structure resembles a spinning top and brings a dramatic vertical dimension to the traditional single-level pavilion. A wide spiralling ramp makes two complete turns, allowing visitors to ascend from the Gallery lawn to the highest point for views across Kensington Gardens as well as a bird’s eye view of the chamber below.
Serpentine Gallery, by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond, 2006 - in London, UK
The centrepiece of the design was a spectacular ovoid-shaped inflatable canopy that floated above the Gallery’s lawn. Made from translucent material, the canopy was raised into the air or lowered to cover the amphitheatre below according to the weather.
The walled enclosure below the canopy functioned both as a café and forum for televised and recorded public programmes including live talks and film screenings in the Time Out Park Nights at the Serpentine Gallery programme.
Serpentine Gallery, by Alvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura, 2005 - in London, UK
In designing the Pavilion, Siza sought to ‘guarantee that the new building - while presenting a totally different architecture - established a “dialogue” with the Neo-classical house’.
The result was a structure that mirrored the domestic scale of the Serpentine and articulated the landscape between the two buildings. The Pavilion was based on a simple rectangular grid, which was distorted to create a dynamic curvaceous form. It comprised interlocking timber beams, a material that accentuated the relationship between the Pavilion and surrounding Park.
Serpentine Gallery, by Oscar Niemeyer, 2003 - in London, UK
The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2003 was both simple and ingenious. Built in steel, aluminium, concrete and glass, its ruby-red ramp contrasted with the surprise of a partly submerged auditorium, affording views across the park. It also housed specially conceived wall drawings by Niemeyer. The Pavilion conformed to Niemeyer’s principle that every project must be capable of summary in a simple ‘sketch’ and that once the support structure is finished the architecture should be more or less complete.
