Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2014

The multimillion British metropolis London shares at least two things with the two-thousand-strong village of Krumbach in eastern Austria: the names of world-famous architects behind the realizations of the last two summer pavilions at the Serpentine Gallery. While the London pavilions have a fourteen-year tradition, this spring, the western Austrian village of Krumbach opened no less than seven bus stops designed by renowned creators, and in some aspects, the Austrians managed to outpace London: for instance, the head of the Madrid studio Ensamble, Antón García-Abril, or the Chinese Pritzker Prize winner Wang Shu still have to wait a little longer for their Serpentine pavilion (the exhibition "BUS:STOP Krumbach" will take place from 17.9. - 6.10.2014 in Vienna's AzW).
But back to London, where the fourteenth summer pavilion of the Serpentine Gallery was opened last Thursday. Unlike last year's installation by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, which resembled a white cloud hovering over the lawns of Kensington Gardens, this year's pavilion by Chilean architect Smiljan Radić, on the contrary, appears very archaic and is firmly tied to the site with its rocky foundations. However, it would not be Radić if he did not simultaneously unsettle visitors with something subconscious. The temporary structure, lasting a few short summer months, consists of giant foundations of quarry stone that looks as if the pavilion is here to stay. On this 'Neolithic site,' a 'futuristic circle' made of laminate hovers above. The light 'translucent cocoon' reveals individual layers and its textile character. The center of the 'translucent dolmen' remains empty. You can only reach the middle by walking under the pavilion, from where you can simultaneously perceive Radić's design and the undisturbed surroundings of Kensington Gardens. Radić adds to his design, which is both mysteriously archaic and romantically whimsical in a good sense: “From the outside, visitors will see a delicate shell resting on boulders of quarry stone. This white translucent cloak made of fiberglass will create an interior space arranged around an empty courtyard, where it will seem lower and yet give the impression that it is all floating. The translucent glass fibers will allow the object to glow after dark, and at night, yellow light will attract passersby just like lamps attract moths.”

Every summer, there is a good reason to stop a little beyond the bridge over the Serpentine lake, at places where many an architect has pondered before you, suspecting that you are now running around with a camera trying to grasp his ideas. This year, a bulky shell landed here with great lightness. In photographs, it appears heavy to almost archaic, as if it had been there forever. However, during an actual visit, it impresses with its unexpected lightness and fragility. Just as it seems careless, it is a showcase of a sensitively and carefully composed space. The individual openings into the shell complement each other and connect the interior and exterior environments. In the resulting sightlines, people meet each other's gazes and thus establish mutual eye contact, something very valuable in every large city. Perhaps an ideal spot for a meeting with someone you love and have invited for a walk in the sun-drenched park of summer. The tropical temperature and fumes from the laminate adhesives will then test every relationship in the café inside the pavilion... But if you know someone who likes to head to the same park with you even in the heaviest rain, the pavilion will reward you both with an amazing soundscape and a pleasant sense of intimacy and safety, where there is nothing left to test. And such an inner feeling may be the best feeling inside every shell.