Peter Zumthor To Design 2011 Serpentine Pavilion

M@
By M@ Last edited 155 months ago
Peter Zumthor To Design 2011 Serpentine Pavilion


As widely rumoured half a year ago, Swiss architect Peter Zumthor will design this year's Serpentine Pavilion. The temporary structure, the 11th in the series, will stand next to the gallery from July till October.

The pavilion:

will be constructed of a lightweight timber frame wrapped with scrim and coated with a black paste mixed with sand. Exterior and interior walls with staggered doorways will offer multiple paths for visitors to follow, gently guiding them to a central, hidden inner garden.

Sounds intriguing. The first images, however, seem designed to lower expectations. The concept picture above looks like a dingy, unloved corner of the Heygate estate, or a fish tank denuded of fish.

Still, such drawings are habitually uninspiring and, given Zumthor's undoubted class, we're sure the finished result will be as spectacular as the pavilions of his illustrious predecessors, who include Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Frank Gehry, Daniel Libeskind and Oscar Niemeyer. More on the pavilion soon, when the events programme is announced.

Last Updated 04 April 2011