Serpentine pavilion 2015

Serpentine Pavilion 2015

 

I had visited five Serpentine Pavilions prior to this one, and the designs had been a mix bag with some more successful/popular than others. I loved last year’s pavilion by Chilean architect Smiljan Radić (read my entry here), even though I wasn’t entirely convinced before my visit.

This year’s pavilion, designed by Spanish architectural studio Selgascano (José Selgas and Lucía Cano), has been criticised by critics and public as “the worst Serpentine Gallery Pavilion ever” and “trash bag monster” (Ouch), so is it really that awful? I was curious to see it for myself.

 

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I ended up visiting the pavilion twice. The first visit confirmed my initial skepticism, I did not like it. Yes, it is colourful and summery, but it also looks cheap ( it is made of ETFE plastic), tenuous and messy. After wandering around for about ten minutes, I took a few snapshots and left.

A few weeks later, I was back at the pavilion again on a lovely sunny day. Perhaps it was the sun or my uplifted mood, but I began to appreciate the playful and experimental aspects of pavilion.

 

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Since the pavilion is not a permanent structure, the use of cheap material seems to make sense now. And unlike the more refined and prodigious structures by other star architects, this one is more daring, feminine, crude and ephemeral. I don’t think the pavilion can be considered an outstanding one, but perhaps like last year’s pavilion, it challenges us to re-evaluate our perceptions and preconceptions of architecture.

The pavilion will close on 18th October, so there is still plenty of time to wander, ponder, and decide for yourself whether you see it as plastic trash or a fun rainbow tunnel.

 

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