Marina Tabassum revealed as 2025 Serpentine Pavilion designer
Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum has unveiled her design for this year's Serpentine Pavilion in London, which will mark the 25th anniversary of the annual commission.
Named A Capsule in Time, the lightweight timber structure is informed by the temporary nature of the pavilions built outside the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens each summer.
"When conceiving our design, we reflected on the transient nature of the commission, which appears to us as a capsule of memory and time," said Tabassum.
"The relationship between time and architecture is intriguing: between permanence and impermanence, of birth, age and ruin; architecture aspires to outlive time."
The design also nods to life in the Bengal Delta, where water flowing from the Himalayan mountains frequently requires people to relocate their homes – a phenomenon she often refers to in her work.
"In the Bengal Delta, architecture is ephemeral as dwellings change locations with the rivers shifting courses," she said. "Architecture becomes memories of the lived spaces continued through tales."
A Capsule in Time will consist of four arched modules with a timber structure filled with transparent panels. The modules will be separate from each other and frame a courtyard with a central tree that aligns with the gallery's bell tower.
According to Tabassum, one of the pavilion's sections will be movable to transform the space.
"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," said Tabassum.
This year is the 25th anniversary of the first Serpentine Pavilion, which was designed by Zaha Hadid, and Tabassum's pavilion will form part of the anniversary celebrations. According to the gallery, this year's design will embody Hadid's "ethos of pushing the boundaries of architecture".
Tabassum, an architect who aims to root architecture to place, was featured on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of 2024. She was also named architect of the year at Dezeen Awards 2024.
"One of global architecture's undoubted heavyweights, Marina Tabassum aims to create buildings that are aligned with their environments," said the Dezeen Awards judges. "Her locally focused work is gaining increasing attention and admiration since winning the Aga Khan Award for Bait Ur Rouf Mosque in Dhaka."
"She recently won the Soane Medal and was named on Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2024 list. It would be no surprise to see her win the Pritzker Architecture Prize in the next couple of years."
Tabassum's pavilion will be unveiled on 6 June. It follows a star-shaped pavilion designed by Minsuk Cho last year, Lina Ghotmeh's circular timber pavilion in 2023 and Theaster Gates' Black Chapel in 2022.
The renders are by Marina Tabassum Architects.
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