Latest news with #SerpentinePavilion
Bloomberg
17 hours ago
- General
- Bloomberg
For World Pride, a DC Museum Exhibit Explores LGBTQ Jewish Identity
In the shadow of a tragic shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum, the exhibit 'LGBTJews in the Federal City' celebrates the resilience of the Jewish community in Washington, DC. By Save Hello and welcome to Bloomberg's weekly design digest. I'm Kriston Capps, staff writer for Bloomberg CityLab and your guide to the world of architecture and the people who build things. This week Marina Tabassum's design for the Serpentine Pavilion opened in London and the Smithsonian Institution found itself in a standoff with the White House. Sign up to keep up: Subscribe to get the Design Edition newsletter every Sunday.
CNN
4 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Designing the Serpentine Pavillion is an architect's dream job. Meet the woman behind this year's building
Even on a grey, drizzly morning in London, entering this year's Serpentine Pavilion — the 25th architectural structure to be erected in Kensington Gardens — will bathe you in a warm glow. Packed in between curved wooden beams, translucent honeyed yellow square panels filter the weak sunlight into a more inviting summer afternoon hue. 'I try to work with light,' architect Marina Tabassum told CNN ahead of Friday's public opening. 'On a sunny day, it's glowing. But even when it's not sunny you get to see a softer effect of the light coming through.' Since 2000, the chance to design a public space in the center of London is awarded by the Serpentine Gallery each year to an architect who hasn't built in Britain before. 'London as a global city has a very international exchange with music, fashion and art,' said gallery co-director Hans Ulrich Obrist, who has been working on the project every summer since 2006, in a video call. 'It's an interesting paradox. The UK has produced so many architects who radiate internationally… But has not historically welcomed foreign architects to build (here.).' Tabassum, who founded her own architectural firm in Bangladesh in 2005, is more used to building temporary structures for climate refugees in India than manicured European public spaces. In 2023, she designed flood-proof, flat-pack homes for those living in Bangladesh's river deltas — where heavy riverbank erosion has resulted in entire towns lost to water. The tall, free-standing treehouses were designed to be folded and moved elsewhere by their inhabitants who, because of the area's vulnerability to climate change, live a transitory lifestyle. Impermanence, therefore, is a key part of Tabassum's architectural DNA. 'When I started studying architecture, (my university) was always referencing (architect) Louis Kahn's (Capitol Complex in Dhaka),' she said, referring to National Parliament Building. 'It has a presence which gives you the sense that architecture is here to stay, that it can last for maybe hundreds of years… Once we started working more in the coasts of Bangladesh, in the places where land constantly moves, that's when we realized that architecture doesn't have to be static.' While this might be her first building project in the UK, as well as outside of Bangladesh , according to Tabassum, her familiarity with constructing for the present, rather than forever, is what made the project less daunting. 'The pavilion seemed almost similar (to my previous work),' reflected Tabassum, who has traveled to London several times to see the past structures in person. 'It has a different shape and form, but it actually holds similar values.' Titled 'A Capsule in Time,' Tabassum's pod-shaped shelter is made entirely of wood . In its center stands a semi-mature gingko tree — a rare climate resistant species of flora that can withstand temperatures ranging between -30 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The tree's symbolic defiance is 'the heart and soul of the entire space,' said Tabassum, and will remain in the gardens after the structure is disassembled. The first Serpentine Pavilion was designed by Zaha Hadid — the celebrated Iraqi-British architect and artist who, at the time, had never built in the country, even after three decades of living in the UK. The marquee was intended to be a one-night shelter for a fundraising dinner organized by the gallery, but the unique shape and atmosphere of Hadid's work struck one attendee in particular: former member of parliament and then secretary of state for culture, media and sport, Lord Chris Smith. 'There was a lot of excitement around it,' said Obrist. Smith was able to receive the correct planning permission that enabled the single-use tent to stand for three months. 'Everyone was very surprised by the idea that the pavilion could stay a bit longer,' Obrist added. In the 25 years since then, the Serpentine has platformed celebrated 'starchitects' like Rem Koolhaas to Frank Gehry, as well as giving lesser-known names their big UK break. 'The pavilion in our architectural world is something quite exciting,' said Tabassum, noting that 'for a long time, we (architects) look forward to who will be making it and what will be the design.' For some, it's a gateway to international acclaim and opportunity. Two former pavilion designers have gone on to win Pritzker Prizes — including Liu Jiakun, who took home the honor this year — while others, such as Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, have been awarded RIBA Royal Gold Medals. Many go on to secure prestigious new projects restoring or reimagining global landmarks. 'Initially the pavilion scheme was very much focused on well-known architects who had long careers,' said Obrist. 'It's really exciting now that we can also work with more emerging voices.' While it may seem reductive to draw a straight line from the Serpentine's summertime structures to illustrious, award-winning architectural careers, the pavilion offers up-and-coming talent a powerful springboard to the global stage. At least that is the opinion of Diébédo Francis Kéré, the other pavilion designer that went onto win the Pritzker Prize (and was the first Black architect to receive the honor). The Burkinabé-German designer was celebrated for the geometric, cobalt blue pavilion that he erected in 2017. 'When I was called to do it, I didn't believe it was me,' Kéré said over the phone from Berlin. 'I was not that established when I did the Serpentine pavilion. Yes, I was established with the work that was (built) in Africa, but being recognized internationally — it was because of the Serpentine.' Last year Frida Escobedo, who was the youngest architect to design the pavilion in 2018, was commissioned to help renovate two major institutions — the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Her new wing at the Met, set to open in 2030, will be the first designed by a woman in the museum's 154-year history. Similarly, Lina Ghotmeh, the Lebanese-born, France-based architect behind the 2023 canteen-style pavilion named 'Á Table,' is currently working on revamping the British Museum in London. 'It was a lovely experience,' she told CNN of her Serpentine project from her studio in Paris. '(The pavilion) attracts so many people from different disciplines. Sometimes architecture tends to be an enclosed profession,' said Ghotmeh. 'I think it's really a great way to get architecture closer to the public.' According to Obrist, it's London's running community who are the most appreciative of the space. The sloping, circular ramp of Olafur Eliasson and Kjetil Thorsen's 2007 pavilion (which was compared at the time to a giant spinning top) was 'a jogger's favourite ramp,' said Obrist. 'Gehry was great for stretching,' he added of the 2008 timber theater — whose haphazard wooden roof always appeared on the brink of collapse. After its four-month run, the pavilion is dismantled and carefully stored away — though hopefully not for long. 'The pavilions always find a second life somewhere,' said Obrist, who adds that they are only ever sold for the price of the material and what it costs to build. Chilean architect Smiljan Radić's 2014 futuristic shell-like structure now lives in the English countryside at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, nestled in the gallery's wildflower meadow; while Japanese designer Sou Fujimoto's mesmeric shimmering matrix from 2013 is permanently installed outside the National Art Gallery in Tirana, Albania. Gehry's crumbling wooden creation resides in a vineyard in Aix-en-Provence, and Kéré's work was bought by the Ilham Gallery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Once every pavilion is reinstated — and at least four are privately owned by collectors — Obrist hopes to one day design a map marking their forever homes for tourists and travelers . 'Maybe when (people) are in a different city they can go and visit them, which would be fun.' Tabassum has already begun considering the retirement plan for 'A Capsule in Time.' Her main desire is not so different from that of the many Brits who will be visiting the building this summer: 'I really hope it goes to a place where there is nice sun and a sunny atmosphere,' she told CNN, 'so that it gives you that glowing feeling once you're inside that space.'
CNN
4 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Designing the Serpentine Pavillion is an architect's dream job. Meet the woman behind this year's building
Even on a grey, drizzly morning in London, entering this year's Serpentine Pavilion — the 25th architectural structure to be erected in Kensington Gardens — will bathe you in a warm glow. Packed in between curved wooden beams, translucent honeyed yellow square panels filter the weak sunlight into a more inviting summer afternoon hue. 'I try to work with light,' architect Marina Tabassum told CNN ahead of Friday's public opening. 'On a sunny day, it's glowing. But even when it's not sunny you get to see a softer effect of the light coming through.' Since 2000, the chance to design a public space in the center of London is awarded by the Serpentine Gallery each year to an architect who hasn't built in Britain before. 'London as a global city has a very international exchange with music, fashion and art,' said gallery co-director Hans Ulrich Obrist, who has been working on the project every summer since 2006, in a video call. 'It's an interesting paradox. The UK has produced so many architects who radiate internationally… But has not historically welcomed foreign architects to build (here.).' Tabassum, who founded her own architectural firm in Bangladesh in 2005, is more used to building temporary structures for climate refugees in India than manicured European public spaces. In 2023, she designed flood-proof, flat-pack homes for those living in Bangladesh's river deltas — where heavy riverbank erosion has resulted in entire towns lost to water. The tall, free-standing treehouses were designed to be folded and moved elsewhere by their inhabitants who, because of the area's vulnerability to climate change, live a transitory lifestyle. Impermanence, therefore, is a key part of Tabassum's architectural DNA. 'When I started studying architecture, (my university) was always referencing (architect) Louis Kahn's (Capitol Complex in Dhaka),' she said, referring to National Parliament Building. 'It has a presence which gives you the sense that architecture is here to stay, that it can last for maybe hundreds of years… Once we started working more in the coasts of Bangladesh, in the places where land constantly moves, that's when we realized that architecture doesn't have to be static.' While this might be her first building project in the UK, as well as outside of Bangladesh , according to Tabassum, her familiarity with constructing for the present, rather than forever, is what made the project less daunting. 'The pavilion seemed almost similar (to my previous work),' reflected Tabassum, who has traveled to London several times to see the past structures in person. 'It has a different shape and form, but it actually holds similar values.' Titled 'A Capsule in Time,' Tabassum's pod-shaped shelter is made entirely of wood . In its center stands a semi-mature gingko tree — a rare climate resistant species of flora that can withstand temperatures ranging between -30 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The tree's symbolic defiance is 'the heart and soul of the entire space,' said Tabassum, and will remain in the gardens after the structure is disassembled. The first Serpentine Pavilion was designed by Zaha Hadid — the celebrated Iraqi-British architect and artist who, at the time, had never built in the country, even after three decades of living in the UK. The marquee was intended to be a one-night shelter for a fundraising dinner organized by the gallery, but the unique shape and atmosphere of Hadid's work struck one attendee in particular: former member of parliament and then secretary of state for culture, media and sport, Lord Chris Smith. 'There was a lot of excitement around it,' said Obrist. Smith was able to receive the correct planning permission that enabled the single-use tent to stand for three months. 'Everyone was very surprised by the idea that the pavilion could stay a bit longer,' Obrist added. In the 25 years since then, the Serpentine has platformed celebrated 'starchitects' like Rem Koolhaas to Frank Gehry, as well as giving lesser-known names their big UK break. 'The pavilion in our architectural world is something quite exciting,' said Tabassum, noting that 'for a long time, we (architects) look forward to who will be making it and what will be the design.' For some, it's a gateway to international acclaim and opportunity. Two former pavilion designers have gone on to win Pritzker Prizes — including Liu Jiakun, who took home the honor this year — while others, such as Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, have been awarded RIBA Royal Gold Medals. Many go on to secure prestigious new projects restoring or reimagining global landmarks. 'Initially the pavilion scheme was very much focused on well-known architects who had long careers,' said Obrist. 'It's really exciting now that we can also work with more emerging voices.' While it may seem reductive to draw a straight line from the Serpentine's summertime structures to illustrious, award-winning architectural careers, the pavilion offers up-and-coming talent a powerful springboard to the global stage. At least that is the opinion of Diébédo Francis Kéré, the other pavilion designer that went onto win the Pritzker Prize (and was the first Black architect to receive the honor). The Burkinabé-German designer was celebrated for the geometric, cobalt blue pavilion that he erected in 2017. 'When I was called to do it, I didn't believe it was me,' Kéré said over the phone from Berlin. 'I was not that established when I did the Serpentine pavilion. Yes, I was established with the work that was (built) in Africa, but being recognized internationally — it was because of the Serpentine.' Last year Frida Escobedo, who was the youngest architect to design the pavilion in 2018, was commissioned to help renovate two major institutions — the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Her new wing at the Met, set to open in 2030, will be the first designed by a woman in the museum's 154-year history. Similarly, Lina Ghotmeh, the Lebanese-born, France-based architect behind the 2023 canteen-style pavilion named 'Á Table,' is currently working on revamping the British Museum in London. 'It was a lovely experience,' she told CNN of her Serpentine project from her studio in Paris. '(The pavilion) attracts so many people from different disciplines. Sometimes architecture tends to be an enclosed profession,' said Ghotmeh. 'I think it's really a great way to get architecture closer to the public.' According to Obrist, it's London's running community who are the most appreciative of the space. The sloping, circular ramp of Olafur Eliasson and Kjetil Thorsen's 2007 pavilion (which was compared at the time to a giant spinning top) was 'a jogger's favourite ramp,' said Obrist. 'Gehry was great for stretching,' he added of the 2008 timber theater — whose haphazard wooden roof always appeared on the brink of collapse. After its four-month run, the pavilion is dismantled and carefully stored away — though hopefully not for long. 'The pavilions always find a second life somewhere,' said Obrist, who adds that they are only ever sold for the price of the material and what it costs to build. Chilean architect Smiljan Radić's 2014 futuristic shell-like structure now lives in the English countryside at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, nestled in the gallery's wildflower meadow; while Japanese designer Sou Fujimoto's mesmeric shimmering matrix from 2013 is permanently installed outside the National Art Gallery in Tirana, Albania. Gehry's crumbling wooden creation resides in a vineyard in Aix-en-Provence, and Kéré's work was bought by the Ilham Gallery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Once every pavilion is reinstated — and at least four are privately owned by collectors — Obrist hopes to one day design a map marking their forever homes for tourists and travelers . 'Maybe when (people) are in a different city they can go and visit them, which would be fun.' Tabassum has already begun considering the retirement plan for 'A Capsule in Time.' Her main desire is not so different from that of the many Brits who will be visiting the building this summer: 'I really hope it goes to a place where there is nice sun and a sunny atmosphere,' she told CNN, 'so that it gives you that glowing feeling once you're inside that space.'
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
The World Tonight More killings near US-Israeli backed Gaza aid site
More Palestinians have been killed near an aid distribution site in Gaza. Israel says it will investigate. The Labour Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee says it's time to sanction Israeli government ministers. Also tonight: The government is under pressure to spend even more on defence than planned - just a day after publishing its defence review. We ask one of the report's authors whether its figures are already out of date. As the Dutch government collapses, we examine how rows over immigration are reshaping European politics. And as the Serpentine Pavilion celebrates 25 years, the leading Bangladeshi architect behind this year's creation has been giving me a tour.
Forbes
6 days ago
- Forbes
Marina Tabassum's Serpentine Pavilion 2025 Explores Climate & Community
"A Capsule in Time" Serpentine Pavilion 2025 by Marina Tabassum The Serpentine Pavilion is a rare and thoughtful initiative—a space where ideas and drawings take physical form, then are experienced by a wide mix of people: gallery-goers, corporate types, school groups, joggers, dog walkers, passing tourists. This annual commission invites an architect (and sometimes an artist) to construct a temporary structure in the heart of Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park in London. And since its inception 25 years ago—with an impressive list of names to include Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, Olafur Eliasson and Kjetil Thorsen, Theaster Gates—the Pavilion has offered a stage for ideological and cultural expression, mirroring the shifting concerns of our collective consciousness. It brings critical thinking into physical space. Serpentine South gallery and "A Capsule in Time" Serpentine Pavilion 2025 by Marina Tabassum The Pavilions are often open, inviting spaces that encourage those who may not typically engage with architecture to experience design in an intimate, tangible way. We all have favorites (mine, the theatrical Theaster Gates of 2022), and many memories of meeting up with friends and family, attending talks and performances. This year's 'A Capsule in Time' hopes to do the same. Designed by architect and educator Marina Tabassum and her studio, Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA), the Pavilion centers on a courtyard built around a semi-mature, climate-resilient ginkgo tree, its axis aligned with the bell tower of the neighboring Serpentine South gallery. The capsule shaped Serpentine Pavilion 2025 by Marina Tabassum Drawing inspiration from Tabassum's native Bangladesh—from its culture of park-going to the arched garden canopies that filter soft daylight through green foliage—the structure shifts gently between interior and exterior, between material tactility and openness, light and shadow, height and volume. Built entirely from wood, light plays a pivotal role: a translucent façade scatters daylight as it enters the space—though on the wet, gloomy morning of the opening, I was left to imagine it all on a better day. There's also a kinetic element, with one of the capsule forms designed to shift and connect, gently reconfiguring the space and altering how we move through it. I met with the architect Marina Tabassum at the Serpentine Pavilion. Architect and educator Marina Tabassum Nargess Banks: What are your thoughts about the Serpentine Pavilion initiative, and the narrative built around the pavilions that came before you? Marina Tabassum: It's a very interesting way of showcasing architecture. In an architectural exhibition you have drawings and models and images that really don't make you feel what architecture does—until and unless you experience it. (With this initiative) the architect brings in their own ethos and practice and values when they come here and build something, which then immediately creates a kind of a connection with the practice and the people who are building it. In that sense, I think it's a nice way of showcasing architecture and inviting people who haven't built in London before to create something here. Light plays a critical role in Marina Tabassum's interpretation for this year's Serpentine Pavilion Banks: The Pavilion project may be impermanent but it does find a home and another life elsewhere at the end of its so-called residency in the fall. Am I right in thinking that the materials used for construction are locally sourced, and much of it reused? And secondly, the climate emergency has long been a lived reality in Bangladesh. How can architecture (temporary, mobile, public) help us confront that dissonance? Tabassum: The building has a second life and it doesn't end up in a landfill. And yes we have to source locally and think sustainability. For instance, the floor you see here seeps the water through, replenishing the water system underneath. The foundation that we've used is also a foundation that has been used previously in other pavilions. And then Serpentine itself is a free gallery, and the money that's raised from here (from the events during the summer) helps raise funds for the galleries. I think it's a nice sustainability model in that sense. And, you know, for us architects, for the last 25 years, it has turned into a sort of a legacy and to be a part of it is always wonderful. The Pavilion centers on a courtyard built around a semi-mature, climate-resilient ginkgo tree Banks: To my mind the Pavilion project is a wonderful stage for architects to visualize and communicate their ideas and ethos—perhaps even explore new avenues during and after the project. Do you dee the experience having an impact on your own work going forward? Tabassum: Every architect who has worked on this project has come with their own uniqueness, with their own stories. Each one is quite different and quite beautiful. And yes the process definitely impacts in some ways, and it manifests through other works too. You know, architecture is a journey. Concreteness wouldn't be interesting. Park life reflecting back on the wood Serpentine Pavilion by Marina Tabassum Banks: Your architecture is rooted in place—in climate, community and context. How do you transpose that ethos to the heart of London's Kensington Gardens, and what does it mean to bring a pavilion from Bangladesh to Britain, both symbolically and materially? Tabassum: I wanted to contextualise it: being in the park was important to me, as was the connection to the gallery. Our practice is very much based in the whole notion of sustainability and working with climate, especially in the Bangladesh context. I'm also trying to bring in my own understanding and my own ethos. There is the notion of light, which for me—coming from Bangladesh and being in a pavilion and in our context—the form is a nod to the shamas (lightweight, impermanent canopy structures). And consequently, the light and the colors that the structure gives is a sort of abstract way of bringing my own experiences in. Serpentine Pavilion 2025 by Marina Tabassum sits within Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park and by the Serpentine South gallery Banks: You've spoken of an 'architecture of relevance,' one that responds to urgency, not just aesthetics. In today's increasingly volatile political climate, where public space feels more contested than ever, what role do you see this year's Serpentine Pavilion playing, as a structure, but also as communicating other kinds of ways of us being together—of our humanity? Tabassum: A structure like this in architecture basically gives you a container, right? It's a space to come and congregate, to be here. And London has this possibility of bringing in diverse people with their own uniqueness to come and gather here. And you need to set aside all your differences in opinion and just to be here, be human in many ways. There's so much dialogue that can take place in this large, generous space. I really hope that this is what architecture does best: gives you a space, gives a platform where a lot of conversations can happen. And I really hope that this pavilion can generate that. Read more articles by Nargess Banks including Stockholm's Market Art Fair, a review of 'Typologien' at Fondazione Prada in Milan, and her year in art.
