Gallery Building by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa in London, UK
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To open Sunday 12 Jul 2009
Images of the Summer pavilion design by SANAA:
Exclusive photos Nick Weall, 12 Jul 2009 - all available for purchase
Purchase a Serpentine Pavilion photo - contact isabelle@e-architect.org
Dates: 12 Jul– 18 Oct 2009
Location: Kensington Gardens, west London
Contact Serpentine Gallery: +44 (0)20 7402 6075
The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009 is designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of leading Japanese architecture practice SANAA. The Pavilion opens on 12 July on the Serpentine Gallery’s lawn in west London.
photos © Nick Weall
Describing the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion structure SANAA 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 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.’
Sejima and Nishizawa have created a stunning Pavilion that resembles a reflective cloud or a floating pool of water, sitting atop a series of delicate columns. The metal roof structure varies in height, wrapping itself around the trees in the park, reaching up towards the sky and sweeping down almost to the ground in various places. Open and ephemeral in structure, its reflective materials make it sit seamlessly within the natural environment, reflecting both the park and sky around it.
The Serpentine Pavilion will be SANAA Architects’ first built structure in the UK and the ninth commission in the Gallery’s annual series of Pavilions, the world’s first and most ambitious architectural programme of its kind that annually gives preeminent architects their debut in this country and brings the best of contemporary architecture to London for everyone to enjoy.
Exclusive photos Nick Weall, 12 Jul 2009 - all available for purchase
Purchase a Serpentine Pavilion photo - contact isabelle@e-architect.org
There is no budget for the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion commission. It is paid for by sponsorship, sponsorship help-in-kind, and the sale ofthe finished structure through Knight Frank, which does not cover more than 40% of its cost. The Serpentine Gallery collaborates with a range of companies and individuals whose support makes it possible to realise the Pavilion.
Julia Peyton-Jones, Director, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-Director, 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.’
Separate areas within the Serpentine Pavilion contain spaces for a café and an auditorium, where the Park Night events programme will be presented, including performances, talks, film screenings and the Serpentine Gallery Poetry Marathon.
Sejima and Nishizawa’s pioneering buildings have created an architecture that marries aesthetic simplicity with technical complexity, defining a new architectural language which plays with light and perception. Sought after by high-profile clients the world over, from the Louvre Museum in Lens, France, to the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, USA, SANAA’s projects are open stages which make visible the connection between the built structure, the users and the natural environment. Sejima, who in her early days studied at the Japan Women's University and worked with architect Toyo Ito, designer of the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in 2002, began collaborating with Nishizawa in 1995. SANAA Architects are working with the structural design and engineering firm SAPS, led by Mutsuro Sasaki, and with the Arup team, led by David Glover and Ed Clark with Cecil Balmond, to realise this Summer's Pavilion.
Images of the Summer pavilion design by SANAA:
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009
Designed by Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA
© 2009 Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA
Photograph: Luke Hayes
NetJets Europe is the title sponsor for the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009. Mark Booth, Executive Chairman, said: ‘Sejima and Nishizawa’s design for the Serpentine Pavilion 2009 is truly breathtaking. The incredible light and openness of the concept will make for a stunning structure which will raise the bar even higher for the much-anticipated Pavilion. Design is an area that we’re passionate about at NetJets: we’re firmly focussed on how we can bring world-class design to our customers’ flight experience; just as the Serpentine Pavilion brings world class architecture to London.
We’re delighted to be a partner in this project and are looking forward to seeing the finished Pavilion.’ Arup Partner Ed Clark commented: ‘Arup's eighth year of commitment to the Serpentine Pavilion reflects our belief in the project and the positive experience our teams get from collaborating with some of the most exciting architects of our time. This year's Pavilion does not disappoint and reflects the exciting dynamism that SANAA bring to all of their projects.’ Peter Rogers, Director of Stanhope plc, will donate his expertise to all aspects of the Pavilion. He said: ‘The Serpentine Pavilion is a unique project whose innovative and challenging designs transcend normal building projects as well as fusing art and architecture in an exciting built form.’
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009 - Further Information
Design : Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009 - Visualisation, exterior
Designed by Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA
© 2009 Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA
Serpentine Pavilion 2008
SANAA Architects
© 2008 Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA
Photograph © Takashi Okamoto
Serpentine Pavilion 2008 photographs
Photograph © Adrian Welch
Serpentine Pavilion architect 2008 : Frank Gehry
Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa
Kazuyo Sejima (b. 1956, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan) studied architecture at the Japan Women's University before joining the practice of architect Toyo Ito. She launched her own practice in 1987 and was named the Japan Institute of Architects' Young Architect of the Year in Japan in 1992. In 1995, Sejima, with Ryue Nishizawa (b. 1966, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan), founded the Tokyo-based firm SANAA (Sejima + Nishizawa and Associates). Nishizawa studied architecture at Yokohama National University and, in addition to his work with Sejima, has also maintained an independent practice since 1997. He holds professorships at prestigious institutions such as Yokohama National University and the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. Sejima and Nishizawa were jointly awarded the Golden Lion at the 9th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2004. Sejima teaches as a Visiting Professor both at Tama Art University and Keio University in Tokyo and, with Ryue Nishizawa, holds the Jean Labatut Professorship at the School of Architecture at Princeton University, New Jersey, USA. SANAA's numerous celebrated buildings include a satellite of the Louvre Museum in Lens, France; Toledo Museum of Art's Glass Pavilion in Toledo, Ohio, USA; the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, USA, and the extension of the Institut Valencià d'Art Modern in Valencia, Spain. In Japan, SANAA's work includes the N-Museum in Wakayama; the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, and the Onishi Civic Center in Onishi.
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Comments / photos for the Serpentine Pavilion 2009 page welcome:
info@e-architect.co.uk
Serpentine Pavilion Architecture 2009 - page: adrian welch / isabelle lomholt
Website: www.serpentinegallery.org/architecture
Buildings by this architect:
New York Art Museum
Zollverein School
Buildings in the area:
Battersea Power Station
Emirates Stadium
One Hyde Park
Swiss Re
Tate Modern Gallery
Key Links:
Architecture Studios
London Buildings
Art Gallery Designs
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion