Serpentine has announced the selection of Bangladeshi architect and educator Marina Tabassum and her firm, Marina Tabassum Architects, to design the 2025 Pavilion. Titled "A Capsule in Time," the proposal takes inspiration from the ephemeral nature of architecture in the Bengal Delta, incorporating a semi-transparent structure intended to evoke a sense of community and connection. The Pavilion will open to the public on June 6th, 2025, marking 25 years since the Serpentine's first commission of Zaha Hadid's inaugural structure in Hyde Park in 2000.
Marina Tabassum Architects' work focuses on socially, environmentally, and politically engaged projects, particularly addressing the challenges faced by marginalized communities in Bangladesh. Their notable projects include the Khudi Bari, modular housing designed for adaptability in flood-prone areas. Tabassum's architectural approach emphasizes a contemporary style rooted in local climate, context, culture, and history.
The 2025 Pavilion, supported by Goldman Sachs, incorporates four wooden capsule forms with a translucent façade, creating a play of light and shadow. A central, movable capsule element adds a kinetic dimension to the structure, inspired by traditional South Asian Shamiyana tents. The design aims to create a versatile space for diverse events and public gatherings, fostering community interaction. The pavilion's design will be accompanied by a catalogue published by Serpentine in June 2025, featuring essays and a conversation between Tabassum and Serpentine's Artistic Director.
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A Look at the Last 8 Editions of the Serpentine PavilionWhen conceiving our design, we reflected on the transient nature of the commission which appears to us as a capsule of memory and time. The relationship between time and architecture is intriguing: between permanence and impermanence, of birth, age and ruin; architecture aspires to outlive time. Architecture is a tool to live behind legacies, fulfilling the inherent human desire for continuity beyond life. In the Bengal delta, architecture is ephemeral as dwellings change locations with the rivers shifting courses. Architecture becomes memories of the lived spaces continued through tales. The archaic volume of a half capsule, generated by geometry and wrapped in light semi-transparent material will create a play of filtered light that will pierce through the structure as if under a Shamiyana at a Bengali wedding. The Serpentine Pavilion offers a unique platform under the summer sun to unite as people rich in diversity. The stage is set, the seats are placed. We envision various events and encounters taking place in this versatile space that unifies people through conversations and connections. - Marina Tabassum, Architect, Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA)
The previous pavilion, "Archipelagic Void," designed by Minsuk Cho of Mass Studies, was open to the public from June 7th to October 27th, 2024, in London's Kensington Gardens. Continuing the direction of previous designers, Minsuk Cho used references from his local context to design a space that encourages interaction and community gathering. Beyond design, the pavilion has represented an opportunity to explore and promote wider ideals of sustainability and labor ethics. For the 21st Pavilion, Theaster Gates collaborated with NGOs to ensure an ethical production process and eliminate forced labor in the building materials supply chain.