Edited by: Enrico Trolese
Designed by: Sou Fujimoto
Where: London’s Kensington Gardens
Photo by: Nicola Cotti
This year in London, people passing by the Serpentine Gallery in London’s Kensington Gardens will have the chance to see the last work of multi award-winning Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto.
The white cloud-like temporary pavilion, made of 20mm steel poles, create a latticed structure that seems to almost fade in the sky. In his statement the architect describe it as an “Architectural Landscape: a transparent terrain that encourages people to interact with and explore the site in diverse ways.”
The architectonic, three-dimensional grid seems to melt into the surroundings with its lightweight and semi-transparent appearance, contracting to form a seat or dilating to allow people to see through.
For this project, Fujimoto had the experience of David Glover of AECOM, global design and engineering firm. Their technical skills allow the pavilion to feature some interesting details, for example transparent polycarbonate discs fixed to the structure provide protection from the weather while the steps and seats were created by casting anti-slip glass panels into the lattice.
The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion was conceived by Julia Peyton-Jones in 2000, as an annual commission. The conditions of the project include that from start to completion, it must not take longer than six months and that the architect must not have built anything in the UK at the time of the pavilion commission. Past projects included famous designers, such as Herzog & De Meuron with Ai Weiwei last year and Zaha Hadid in 2000.
Fujimoto is the thirteenth architect to accept the invitation to design the temporary pavilion, the third Japanese after SANAA (2009) and Toyo Ito (2002)
Born in Hokkaido in 1971,Fujimoto is one of the most important architects in Japan. After the establishment of his own practice in 2000, he completed a number of commissions in Japan and abroad from residential, such as House N, to institutional works, such as the Musashino Art Museum.
The Serpentine gallery Pavilion official opening will be the 8th of June, and people will have the chance to visit it till October 20th, 2013.
You can check for more information in London’s The Independent
