"Curving walls of clay brick and the dappled light of a forest canopy make up the design of the 2026 Serpentine Pavilion, the annual architectural installation that has become one of the field's most prestigious commissions. This year's pavilion is being designed by Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo of LANZA atelier, a Mexico City-based architecture studio. An annual installation outside the"
"Hitting the premise on the nose, LANZA atelier's design was inspired by a common English architectural feature known as a "serpentine" or a "crinkle-crankle" that uses a gently curving line of bricks to form a decorative wall. For the Serpentine Pavilion, the architects lined one side of the structure with this serpentine wall, built just a single brick wide. An architectural trick, the wall's curves provide stability through lateral support, making it need fewer bricks than if the wall were straight."
"Inside, the pavilion evokes the trees of the surrounding park with a series of brick columns-also a single brick wide-supporting a semi-transparent roof. Bricks also make up the floor surface, making the interior a thoroughly earthy experience. This single material's dominance is only broken by its white-painted metal frame lattice roof, which bounces light into the space. Its curvaceous form creates niches within the pavilion while also forming portals to the park and to the Serpentine gallery nearby."
LANZA atelier's 2026 design for the Serpentine Pavilion pairs curving one-brick-thick clay walls with slender brick columns to evoke a forest canopy. The serpentine or crinkle-crankle wall runs along one side, using curvature for lateral stability so fewer bricks are required. A semi-transparent white-painted metal lattice roof bounces dappled light into the space while supporting the columns. Brick also forms the pavilion floor, reinforcing an earthy material continuity. The curvaceous plan creates interior niches and frames portals toward Kensington Gardens and the nearby Serpentine Gallery. The Serpentine Pavilion commission celebrates architectural experimentation and public accessibility.
Read at Fast Company
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]