| Architect |
Smiljan Radić |
| Date
Built |
2014 |
| Location |
Beside the
Serpentine Pavillion in Hyde Park |
| Description |
|
The Serpentine Gallery
describes the 2014 Pavillion, by the Chilean
architect, Smiljan Radić, as, "...A
semi-translucent, cylindrical structure
that resembled a shell and rested on
large quarry stones, (it) occupied 350
square metres of the Serpentine’s lawn
and was home to and inspiration for the
Park Nights series of events. ...
Radić's design for a temporary
Pavilion has its roots in the
architect’s earlier work, particularly
The Castle of the Selfish Giant,
inspired by the Oscar Wilde story and
the Restaurant Mestizo - part of which
is supported by large boulders." ... From the outside, visitors see a fragile shell in the shape of a hoop suspended on large quarry stones. Appearing as if they had always been part of the landscape, these stones are used as supports, giving the pavilion both a physical weight and an outer structure characterised by lightness and fragility. ....  ... The shell, which is white, translucent and made of fibreglass, contains an interior that is organised around an empty patio at ground level, creating the sensation that the entire volume is floating. The simultaneously enclosed and open volumes of the structure explore the relationship between the surrounding Kensington Gardens and the interior of the Pavilion. The floor is grey wooden decking, as if the interior were a terrace rather than a protected interior space. ...   ... Designed as a flexible, multi-purpose social space, the Pavilion had a café sited inside. Visitors were encouraged to enter and interact with the structure in different ways throughout its four-month tenure in the Park."     |
|
|
Serpentine
Pavillion 2014, Hyde Park, London
 |
