The Serpentine Pavilion: a history in pictures
In anticipation of this year’s Serpentine Pavilion designed by Frida Escobeda, we take a look back at the best builds from over the years – from Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei’s on-site excavation and Frank Gehry’s timber-based construct, right through to Zaha Hadid’s inaugural, white geometric construct for Serpentine in 2000.
2018 – Frida Escobedo: The dark latticed walls of Escobedo’s pavilion are intended as a play on the celosia – a common trope in Mexican architecture that allows breeze to flow through buildings. A café sits at one end, while a shallow pool of water runs on one long side, adding to the overall serene atmosphere
The pavilion’s pivoted axis aligns with the Prime Meridian line that was established in Greenwich, London in 1851 and later became the global standard for marking time and geographical distance
Escobedo considered the final installation site of her pavilion, focusing on time, temporality and personal experience during the design process. Inspired by La Mezquita [The Mosque] in Cordoba, the pavilion is a closed courtyard inside a park, within the city of London; a Russian doll of interiors. The pavilion’s polygonal structure creates three spaces – two smaller courtyards and a central one – constructed from porous walls and British roof tiles, creating a lattice.
2016 – Francis Kéré: Kéré looked to village life for his design, and the notion of a paviliion as a shelter or meeting point. Supported by a light steel framed trunk, the structure has timber brise soleil eaves extending over like the canopy of a tree, creating a dappled light effect, while above, layers of clear polycarbonate panels shelter the internal space. Photography: Iwan Baan. Copyright: Kéré Architecture
Four entrances naturally open up between the indigo walls, allowing a flow of people into the pavilion. The structure also paid respect to the British climate with rain water flowing from the polycarbonate roof, down into the central core where a waterfall will process water to be collected through drainage channels in the poured concrete. Photography: Iwan Baan. Copyright: Kéré Architecture
2016 – BIG: This year’s Serpentine pavillion, designed by Bjarke Ingels’ BIG, was built from extruded square tubes of glass fibre, reinforced and bolted together using hundreds of T-shaped aluminium brackets. Photography: Iwan Baan
The wall of blocks is canted and sloped, rippled and twisted; playing with scale and creating a miniature realisation of the megastructural ziggurats the Danish studio is so adeptly building around the world. Photography: Iwan Baan
2015 – SelgasCano: Madrid-based architectural practice SelgasCano was behind the design for the 2015 pavilion, constructed from translucent layers of multicoloured membrane panels made from ETFE – a fluorine-based plastic
Co-directors José Selgas and Lucía Cano were seeking to provide an experience through ’simple elements: structure, light... change, surprise, colour and materials’
2015 – Smiljan Radić: The 2014 pavilion comprised a translucent, round shell made of glass-reinforced plastic, moulded in a ring shape that sat on boulders. It now resides at Hauser & Wirth Somerset Photography: Iwan Baan
Soft light was filtered into the main, timber-floored area, thanks to the pavilion’s translucent shell, the construction of which was visible like the papier-mâché models Radić favours in the creative process Photography: John Offenbach
2013 – Sou Fujimoto: The pavilion for 2013 was designed by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto Photography: Iwan Baan
The 13th architect to design the summer pavilion for the Serpentine Gallery, Fujimoto described his aim to create a cloud-like construction that blended in with nature Photography: Iwan Baan
The pavilion featured an intricate composition of thin metal parts that created a white cloud-like mesh, covered in places with translucent panels to provide shelter for guests Photography: Iwan Baan
Fujimoto’s concept sketch for the 2013 pavilion. Courtesy of Sou Fujimoto Architects
2012 – Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei: The 2012 pavilion was a collaboration, designed by Swiss architecture team Herzog & de Meuron and Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. It revealed the footprints of previous pavilions through an on-site excavation Copyright Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei. Photography: Iwan Baan
Herzog & de Meuron and Weiwei’s pavilion featured a reflective roof, which captured rainwater, and a low seating area underneath, clad in cork Copyright Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei. Photography: John Offenbach
2011 – Peter Zumthor: The grey, minimalist 2011 pavilion was designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor; its interior revealed a tranquil planted courtyard by leading Dutch landscape gardener Piet Oudolf Photography: John Offenbach
A lush garden hid at the heart of the Zumthor’s 2011 pavilion, making it an urban retreat for relaxation and contemplation. Photography: John Offenbach
2010 – Jean Nouvel: French architect Jean Nouvel’s red pavilion, created in 2010, teamed a partly translucent façade with a cantilevered wall. Photography: Philippe Ruault
It also featured an auditorium for hosting events, such as the gallery’s annual two-day ‘marathon’ event Photography: John Offenbach
2009 – SANAA: A delicate, floating aluminium roof was the stand-out feature of the 2009 pavilion, designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of Japanese practice SANAA Photography: Nick Guttridge/VIEW
A series of slim metal columns support the reflective canopy Photography: James Newton/VIEW
2008 – Frank Gehry: In 2008, US-based architect Frank Gehry collaborated with his son, Samuel Gehry for the first time, for the Serpentine Pavilion. Photography: John Offenbach
Gehry’s first-built structure in England, the 2008 pavilion was a composition of timber planks, steel columns and glass planes. Photography: John Offenbach
2007 – Olafur Eliasson and Kjetil Thorsen: A collaboration between artist Olafur Eliasson and Norwegian architect Kjetil Thorsen of Snohetta, the 2007 pavilion was clad in timber, while its top appeared to spin. Photography: John Offenbach
The timber-clad interior of the 2007 pavilion was ‘an exploration of vertical circulation’. Photography: Deborah Bullen
2006 – Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond: Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond united with Arup to create a pavilion constructed from a helium-filled roof that rose and fell with the changes in weather Photography: John Offenbach
2005 – Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura: Portuguese architects Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura collaborated with British-based Cecil Balmond and Arup in 2005. Photography: James Winspear/VIEW
It was made from a frame of open, gently asymmetrical timber and metal and served as a café and seating area Photography: Sylvain Deleu. Courtesy Taschen
The pavilion offered ample seating inside. That same year, the Serpentine kick-started its annual ‘marathon’ lecture series inside the structure Photography: John Offenbach
2003 – Oscar Niemeyer: Made from concrete yet appearing to float, this pavilion by Oscar Niemeyer showcased the master architect’s distinctive use of curves Photography: Richard Bryant / arcaidimages Courtesy Taschen
Niemeyer had never realised a building in the UK when he was invited, aged 96, to design the 2003 pavilion Photography: Sylvain Deleu. Courtesy Taschen
2002 – Toyo Ito and Cecil Balmond: The 2002 pavilion, by 2013 Pritzker Prize-winner Toyo Ito and Cecil Balmond (with Arup), featured a complex random pattern derived from an algorithm Photography: Sylvain Deleu. Courtesy Taschen
The pavilion’s unusual shapes created an ever-changing play of light and shadow inside the structure Photography: Sylvain Deleu. Courtesy Taschen
2001 – Daniel Libeskind: ‘Eighteen Turns’ was designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, with Arup and exhibited the signature metallic, reflective forms for which the architect became known Photography: Stephen White. Courtesy Taschen
The anglular metal pavilion, clad in aluminium panels was reminiscent of a giant piece of origami Photography: Helene Binet
2000 – Zaha Hadid: The very first Serpentine Gallery Pavilion was created in 2000 and designed by London-based architect Zaha Hadid Photography: Helene Binet
Hadid’s white geometric pavilion with is triangulated roof structure was a reinvention of the marquee and spanned 600 sqm Photography: Helene Binet
Inside the pavilion the Hadid also create pew-like characteristically angular seating