The author of the Serpentine Gallery Summer Pavilion 2019 will be Junya Ishigami

Japanese architects have long been among the most successful creators of summer pavilions at the Serpentine Gallery. In its nineteen-year history, three Japanese studios have already been commissioned (Toyo Ito 2002, SANAA 2009, Sou Fujimoto 2013), and this year, a pavilion by forty-five-year-old Junya Ishigami is set to rise in Kensington Gardens during the summer, where new abstract nature is being created with the help of artificial trees, clouds, or caves. While Ishigami's models astound with their detail and fragility in galleries, these distinct designs perfectly blend with their surroundings (both natural and urban) in reality. Ishigami, who was approached by the London gallery to prepare an unconventional experience for visitors, drew inspiration from roofs. The result is a single roof landscape that appears as if it is growing directly from the ground. The interior space of the pavilion creates the impression of an underground cave as a place for contemplation. In his design, Ishigami develops the idea of "free space," seeking harmony between artificially created structures and those already existing, which were created by nature.
Ishigami adds to his design: "My pavilion design plays with the perspective of human-built environments against the backdrop of natural landscapes, emphasizing a natural and organic impression as if a rocky hill is growing out of the lawn. It is an attempt to complement traditional architecture using modern methods and concepts, resulting in a spatial scenery not seen anywhere before. The pavilion has the physical weight of slate roofs that we can see around the world, but at the same time, it has such a light impression that the wind could easily blow it away. A pile of scattered stones levitates in the air like a fluttering piece of fabric."
The pavilion will traditionally open at the end of June and its doors will definitively close at the beginning of October.

Junya Ishigami (*1974 Kanagawa) graduated in 2000 with a degree in architecture from Tokyo National University and then worked for four years in the office of Kazuyo Sejima. Since 2004, he has been running his own studio in Tokyo. In 2008, he was the curator of the Japanese pavilion at the Venice Architectural Biennale. Two years later, he won the Golden Lion for best installation in Venice. Since 2009, he has been active at the Tokyo University of Science. Last summer, the Cartier Foundation in Paris hosted a major solo exhibition titled Freeing Architecture.

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