Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2015

This year's pavilion could be likened to a failed steam room or the embodiment of hippie psychedelia. Critics come up with more and more witty remarks about the current project in Kensington Gardens every day, but they all agree on one thing: it is "clearly the worst Serpentine pavilion in its fifteen-year history". One thing is certain: this design will not leave anyone cold, which was likely the main intention of the Madrid-based SelgasCano. Where else can architects experiment better than with summer pavilions that have minimal functional demands and a short lifespan?
Want to experience what it's like inside a soap bubble? Take a trip to London this summer!



A key condition for selecting architects for the Serpentine Gallery summer pavilion is that they must not have any previous realizations on British territory, which the authors managed to fulfill quite easily, as the Madrid studio SelgasCano has not had many opportunities to realize buildings outside Spanish territory. At the same time, they are the first Spaniards to gain the opportunity to realize a pavilion for the Serpentine Gallery.
The translucent multicolored installation composed of four intertwined corridors was presented to the public for the first time in February of this year. For the Madrid architectural duo José Selgas and Lucía Cano, two aspects were decisive in the design: the royal gardens in London and a single transparent material serving as a projection screen. Additionally, it draws from the book Peter Pan by Scottish writer Sir James M. Barrie, resulting in a pavilion standing somewhere between dream and reality.
The fifteenth summer pavilion of the Serpentine Gallery will be open to visitors of Kensington Gardens from June 26 to October 18, 2015.