Edited by: Eugenia Gotti – eugenia.gotti@positive-magazine.com
Designed by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei www.herzogdemeuron.com
Friday, June 1, following a five-week construction process, the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion designed by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei was opened to the public. It is the latest of the 12 temoporary summer pavilions sanctionated by the Serpentine Gallery’s director, Julia Peyton-Jones and Hans Ulrich Obrist.
Last year’s pavilion was a hortus conclusus, or secret garden, designed by Peter Zumthor. The artis, Ai Weiwei, was not present in London as he is under travel restrictions by the government of China.
The pavilion has been designed by the same design team responsible for the celebrated Beijing national stadium. They are togheter again in London 2012 being presented as part of the London 2012 Festival, the culmitation of the Cultural Olympiad.
This year’s Pavilion takes visitors beneath the Serpentine’s lawn to explore the hidden history of its previous Pavilions. Eleven columns characterising each past Pavilion and a twelfth column representing the current structure. They support a floating platform roof 1.4 metres above ground. The Pavilion’s interior is clad in cork. Taking an archaeological approach, Herzog & de Meuron have created a design that inspires visitors to look beneath the surface of the park as well as back in time, across the traces of the earlier structures. The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion will be open from 1 June to 14 October 2012.