Like a team of archaeologists, Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei identify physical fragments as remains of the eleven Pavilions built between 2000 and 2011, revealing an astonishing landscape.

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012

Designed by Herzog & de Meuron & Ai Weiwei

© 2012, by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012

Designed by Herzog & de Meuron & Ai Weiwei

© 2012, by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012

Designed by Herzog & de Meuron & Ai Weiwei

© 2012, by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012

Designed by Herzog & de Meuron & Ai Weiwei

© 2012, by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012

Designed by Herzog & de Meuron & Ai Weiwei

© 2012, by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012

Designed by Herzog & de Meuron & Ai Weiwei

© 2012, by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei

‘The Serpentine Gallery has released plans for the 2012 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion designed by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei. It will be 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, comes together again in London in 2012 for the Serpentine’s acclaimed annual commission, being 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 will take 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 will support a floating platform roof 1.4 metres above ground. The Pavilion’s interior will be 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…’

ARCHITECT: Herzog & de Meuron, Basel, Switzerland. ARTIST: Ai Weiwei, Beijing, china. CLIENT: The Serpentine Gallery. LOCATION: The Serpentine Gallery, London, UK. DESCRIPTION: Pavilion. DATE: 1 June to 14 October 2012. No part of this web site may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Morfae and the copyright owner.