Serpentine Pavilion London : Architecture Information

Serpentine Pavilion 2009 by SANAA Architects photo © Nick Weall Serpentine Gallery - temporary shelters 2007 Zaha Hadid Architects Location: Kensington Gardens, west London Lilas Photos: Luke Hayes Zaha Hadid’s work formed at last minute (6 weeks lead-in) following incomplete work by artist Olafur Eliasson. Serpentine Gallery pavilion by Olafur Eliasson will be in place from Aug to Oct Serpentine Pavilion 2007 : Zaha Hadid PROGRAM: Temporary tensile fabric Installation consisting of 3 parasols for the Serpentine Gallery’s Summer Party located in Kensington Gardens. CLIENT: Serpentine Gallery ARCHITECT: Design Zaha Hadid with Patrik Schumacher Project Architect Kevin McClellan CONSULTANTS: Structural ARUP Steel Fabrication: Sheetfabs Ltd. Membrane Fabrication: Base Structures Ltd. Lighting design: Zumbotel Furniture provided by: Estabished & Sons, Kenny Schachter, Sawaya & Moroni, Serralunga, Max Protetch, Swarovski SIZE/AREA: Height 5.5 m Width 22.5 m Length 22.5 m Total Floor Area 310 m2 The Serpentine Summer Party Installation is designed as an open air space raising 5.5m that consists of three identical tensile fabric structures or parasols arrayed around a central point. Each parasol develops sculpturally from a small articulated base to a large cantilevered diamond shape. Taking inspiration from complex natural geometries such as flower petals and leaves the three parasols overlap to create the pavilion’s main conceptual feature: complex symmetry, interweaving all-the-while without touching, allowing air, light and sound to travel through narrow gaps in a state that is both open and likewise tending toward closure. Raised on a low platform located within an open fi eld fl anked by a row of trees just South of the Serpentine Gallery, the Serpentine Summer Party Pavilion is free standing and accessible from all sides. Accommodating movement throughout the site, the Pavilion is enigmatic. In the day it provides shading, while at night the pavilion undergoes an energetic transformation into a source of illumination. From continuous lighting around each base, light is thrown up the fabric surfaces along very thin seams that radiate about the parasols that act like corseting or the veining of flowers revealing the geometric intricacy of the pavilion and highlighting the overall architectural form in calligraphic arcs. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion info from Zaha Hadid Architects