Floating Among Shifting Images

architects Selgascano
project Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2015, London, United Kingdom
written by Dinko Peračić

 

if you have been encouraged and inspired by browsing through exceptional images selected by the editorial board of Oris, you can easily find basic information about this year’s Serpentine Pavilion — located in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, central London — by searching the web. The Gallery itself is a former tea pavilion converted to an art gallery in 1970. Since then it has been a venue for extraordinary exhibitions and art projects. It boasts a small, but popular cafe with a terrace and an even smaller, but one of the best bookstores. In 2000, Zaha Hadid was invited to design a structure in the garden in front of the Gallery, to be used for summer events in the future. Ever since that year, a new temporary summer pavilion has been built in the garden, and leading architects commissioned who, until then, have not had the opportunity to build in England. One of the Pavilion’s curators is Hans Ulrich Olbrist. He plays a very significant role, and intensively collaborates with architects. Last year’s Pavilion was designed by Smiljan Radic, a Chilean architect of Croatian descent. On June 22 this year, a new Pavilion was opened, a design by Selgascano, Spanish architects and married couple José Selgas and Lucía Cano. The structure of their Pavilion comprises irregular white steel frames carrying a colorful double plastic etfe membrane. A white bearing structure and white epoxy flooring are used as a base for different hues, achieved by using colorful foils. Set in the park in front of the Gallery, the Pavilion accommodates a snack bar with a seating zone and an empty space for occasional events.