The Serpentine Sackler Gallery launches with a new extension by Zaha Hadid
Three years after getting the nod from The Royal Parks, the Serpentine will finally open its new Serpentine Sackler Gallery this Saturday, a Grade II*-listed building located a stone's throw from the original gallery in Hyde Park.
Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid has transformed the interior of the Magazine building - a 200-year-old former gunpowder store - and added a curvaceous new extension as a contemporary counterpoint. The new space will bring some 900 sq m to the gallery's footprint, and will house the Magazine restaurant along with an exhibition space and function rooms.
Hadid rendered her classic curves in a soft and gentle fashion for the new annex in order to respect the neo-classical original. 'We wanted to use a new materiality,' says the architect, who opted for a PTFE coated, glass-fibre woven fabric membrane for the exterior skin. 'It looks temporary but is actually attached to the [existing] building in a really light way.'
The gallery has a long-held relationship with the UK-based architect, who designed the first of its annual summer Serpentine Gallery Pavilions in 2000. 'We wanted to work with her again for many reasons - primarily because she has no realised [permanent] buildings in Central London and she is one of the most distinguished architects working today,' says Serpentine Gallery director Julia Peyton-Jones. 'She married the old and the new extraordinarily.'
Hans Ulrich Obrist, co-director of exhibitions and programmes, adds: 'The German art historian Erwin Panofsky said that we invent the future out of fragments of the past, and that is exactly what is happening here.'
The existing structure's careful restoration was spearheaded by the Serpentine and Hadid, in partnership with The Royal Parks, while the landscaping around it was created by landscape designer Arabella Lennox-Boyd.
The new and existing galleries will work together to host a programme of art exhibitions - the first of which is a solo show of the work of Argentinian artist Adrián Villar Rojas, who creates monumental pieces in concrete, wood, steel and clay. 'Adrian wanted to develop a project where he really embraces the building's contradictions, the old and the new, the future and the past, the different traditions of the building,' says Jochen Volz, head of programmes at the gallery. Meanwhile, the original Serpentine building will be hosting the first solo exhibition in a UK public institution of Italian artist Marisa Merz.
This new addition to Hyde Park is named after Dr Mortimer and Dame Theresa Sackler, whose foundation supported the project with the largest single gift received by the Gallery in its 43-year history.
ADDRESS
Serpentine Sackler Gallery
West Carriage Drive
Kensington Gardens
London W2 2AR
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
The moments fashion met art at the 60th Venice Biennale
The best fashion moments at the 2024 Venice Biennale, with happenings from Dior, Golden Goose, Balenciaga, Burberry and more
By Jack Moss Published
-
Crispin at Studio Voltaire, in Clapham, is a feast for all the senses
New restaurant Crispin at Studio Voltaire is the latest opening from the brains behind Bistro Freddie and Bar Crispin, with interiors by Jermaine Gallagher
By Billie Brand Published
-
Vivienne Westwood’s personal wardrobe goes up for sale in landmark Christie’s auction
The proceeds of ’Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection’, running this June, will go to the charitable causes she championed during her lifetime
By Jack Moss Published
-
Tomás Saraceno’s spider-led show at Serpentine has legs, and lots of them
‘Web(s) of Life’, the first major UK show by Tomás Saraceno, is a living, collaborative and multi-species call to climate action involving everything from dog-friendly sculptures to ‘spider diviners’ – but no phones allowed
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published
-
Steve McQueen to screen his harrowing film 'Grenfell' at London’s Serpentine
Acclaimed film director and artist Steve McQueen will screen his film, Grenfell, at London’s Serpentine South gallery (7 April-10 May 2023), six years after the Grenfell Tower block blaze killed 72
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published
-
Barbara Chase-Riboud at Serpentine: alternative monuments, parallel histories
‘Infinite Folds’ at Serpentine North Gallery celebrates Barbara Chase-Riboud, the American artist, novelist and poet who has spent more than seven decades pondering history, memory, and the public monument
By MZ Adnan Last updated
-
Theaster Gates’ design for Serpentine Pavilion 2022 revealed
The American artist and urban planner reveals his plans for the Serpentine Pavilion 2022. Black Chapel has spirituality, music and community at its heart
By TF Chan Last updated
-
Tom Hingston on designing for Serpentine Galleries, the V&A, and Wallpaper*
London-based art director and graphic designer Tom Hingston discusses his visual identities for Serpentine Galleries
By TF Chan Last updated
-
140 artists on saving Planet Earth
In the book 140 Artists’ Ideas for Planet Earth, Serpentine Galleries’ Hans Ulrich Obrist and Kostas Stasinopoulos, alongside leading artists offer innovative solutions to the climate crisis
By Nuray Bulbul Last updated
-
Counterspace's Sumayya Vally on her Serpentine Pavilion
Counterspace is the fast-emerging South African architectural practice commissioned to create the latest Serpentine Pavilion in London. Here, its founder Sumayya Vally takes artist and photographer Mikhael Subotzky on a whistle-stop tour of their adopted hometown, Johannesburg
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
Serpentine Pavilion commission extended for the first time
Counterspace's anticipated Serpentine Pavillion design will now debut in summer 2021
By Elly Parsons Last updated