Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei have created the 2012 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion. It is the twelfth commission in the Gallery’s annual series, the world’s first and most ambitious architectural programme of its kind. The design team responsible for the celebrated Beijing National Stadium, which was built for the 2008 Olympic Games has come together again in London in 2012 for the Serpentine’s acclaimed annual commission, presented as part of the London 2012 Festival, the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad. The Pavilion is Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei’s first collaborative built structure in the UK.
This year’s Pavilion takes visitors beneath the Serpentine’s lawn to explore the hidden history of its previous Pavilions. Eleven columns characterising each past Pavilion and a twelfth column representing the current structure support a floating platform roof 1.4 metres above ground. The Pavilion’s interior is clad in cork, a sustainable building material chosen for its unique qualities and to echo the excavated earth. Taking an archaeological approach, the architects have created a design that will inspire visitors to look beneath the surface of the park as well as back in time across the ghosts of the earlier structures.
Julia Peyton-Jones, Director, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-Director, Serpentine Gallery, said: “It is a great honour to be working with Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, the design team behind Beijing’s superb Bird’s Nest Stadium. In this exciting year for London we are proud to be creating a connection between the Beijing 2008 and the London 2012 Games. We are enormously grateful for the help of everyone involved, especially Usha and Lakshmi N. Mittal, whose incredible support has made this project possible.”
The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion will operate as a public space and as a venue for Park Nights, the Gallery’s high-profile programme of public talks and events. Connecting to the archaeological focus of the Pavilion design Park Nights will culminate in October with the Serpentine Gallery Memory Marathon, the latest edition of the annual Serpentine Marathon series conceived by Hans Ulrich Obrist, now in its seventh year. The Marathon series began in 2006 with the 24-hour Serpentine Gallery Interview Marathon; followed by the Experiment Marathon in 2007; the Manifesto Marathon in 2008; the Poetry Marathon in 2009, the Map Marathon in 2010 and the Garden Marathon in 2011. Usha and Lakshmi N. Mittal are lead supporters of the Pavilion. They have also purchased the structure and it will enter their collection after it closes to the public on 14 October 2012.
Realised with the generous support of Usha and Lakshmi N. Mittal
Sponsored by Hiscox
In collaboration with Amorim ESPA
Advisors Arup
Project Team and Advisors
Architects – Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei
Architectural Design Team
Jacques Herzog
Pierre de Meuron
Ai Weiwei
Ben Duckworth, Project Director, Associate
Christoph Zeller, Project Manager
Liam Ashmore
Mai Komuro
Martin Nässen
John Francis O’Mara
Wim Walschap, Associate
E-Shyh Wong
Inserk Yang
Structural Engineering: Arup
Stuart Smith
Chris Neighbour
Francesco Anselmo
Mark Freeman
Lidia Johnson
Jeff Shaw
Jack Wilshaw
Project Directors
Julia Peyton-Jones
with Hans Ulrich Obrist,
Serpentine Gallery
Project Leader
Julie Burnell
Serpentine Gallery
Project Organiser
Sophie O’Brien
with Claire Feeley
Serpentine Gallery
Project and Construction Management: RISE
Gareth Stapleton
Tom Redhouse
Construction: Stage One
Ted Featonby
Mick Mead
Project Advisors
Lord Palumbo, Chairman, Serpentine Board of Trustees
Paul Lewis, Head of Operations, Stanhope Plc
Colin Buttery, Director of Parks, Royal Parks Agency
Ray Brodie, Parks Superintendent, Royal Parks Agency
Westminster City Council Planning Office
Jenny Wilson, Westminster City Council (Licensing Authority)
Hassan Lashkariani, Westminster City Council (Building Control)
London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority
Consultants
Knight Frank (assistance with sale of Pavilion)
Weil, Gotshal & Manges (legal services)
Contractors
Amorim (cork)
DP9 (planning consultants)
EC Harris (CDM services)
Elliott Thomas Group (site security)
Gleeds (consultants)
Laing O’Rourke (construction equipment)
The Landscape Group Ltd (landscaping)
SES (surveying and site set-out)
Stage One (main structure)
TEXT: Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens
