Bjarke Ingels to design 16th Serpentine Pavilion as part of expanded programme

Date
11 February 2016

The annual Pavilion commission to design a structure to sit outside London’s Serpentine gallery has been awarded to Danish architect BIG. The company, founded by Bjarke Ingels, will design a 300sqm temporary structure that, throughout the summer months, will serve as a café during the day and host talks and events in the evening.

This year the programme is expanding its remit by commissioning four more architects to design 25sqm summer houses inspired by Queen Caroline’s Temple, a building constructed in 1734 close to the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park. The commissioned architects for the smaller projects are Asif Khan (London), Yona Friedman (Paris), Kunle Adeyemi (Amsterdam/Lagos) and Barkow Liebinger (Berlin/New York).

“After 15 years, the Pavilion programme has expanded. It now comprises five structures, each designed by an architect of international renown, aged between 36 and 93,” said Julia Peyton-Jones, Director, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-Director of the Serpentine Galleries. “All projects have been thrilling to commission and will be equally exciting to realise. We cannot wait to unveil them all this summer.”

In past years the Pavilion has been designed by a stellar array of international architects including Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Wei Wei in 2012, Peter Zumthor in 2011, Frank Gehry in 2008 and Zaha Hadid, who designed the inaugural pavilion in 2000.

Above

BIG: Danish Maritime Museum (Image by Luca Santiago Mora)

Above
Left

Barkow Leibinger: Fellows Pavilion – American Academy in Berlin, 2015 (image C Stefan Muller)

Right

Asif Khan: Guggenheim Helsinki design, 2015 (image courtesy Asif Khan)

Above

Asif Khan: Guggenheim Helsinki design, 2015 (image courtesy Asif Khan)

Above
Left

NLE, Floating School, Makoko, Nigeria, 2012

Right

Yona Friedman: Vigne Museum, Livio Felluga Winery, Italy, 2014

Above

Yona Friedman: Vigne Museum, Livio Felluga Winery, Italy, 2014

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About the Author

Owen Pritchard

Owen joined It’s Nice That as Editor in November of 2015 leading and overseeing all editorial content across online, print and the events programme, before leaving in early 2018.

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