Serpentine Galleries Pavilions; a history

Left: the Serpentine Sackler Gallery; right: the Serpentine Gallery in summer 2014; photos Riccardo Bianchini © Inexhibit

The Serpentine Galleries Pavilions; a history

The Serpentine is a world-famous contemporary art center in London comprising two galleries located at the opposite sides of Kensington Gardens’ Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park: the original Serpentine Gallery, established in 1970 in a former tea pavilion, and the new Serpentine Sackler Gallery opened in 2013 and designed by the Iraqi-born British architect Zaha Hadid. Along with the activity of its permanent galleries, the Serpentine is renowned for the temporary summer pavilion, commissioned yearly since 2000. to a prominent international architect who has never built in the UK.
The pavilions, which last for about three months and must be realized with a limited budget, are located in the heart of the Kensington Gardens and are intended to provide a multi-purpose social space where people gather and interact with contemporary art, music, dance, and film events.

In this summary, Inexhibit magazine presents a short history by images of all Serpentine Galleries Summer Pavilions since the first one, designed by Zaha Hadid in 2000, up to the 2021 edition, designed by the all-female South-African architecture office Counterspace.

THE SERPENTINE SUMMER PAVILIONS – from 2021 to 2000

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2021 – Counterspace

Serpentine Pavilion 2021 designed by Counterspace, Serpentine Gallery, London (11 June – 17 October 2021), © Counterspace; photo © Iwan Baan

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2019 – Junya Ishigami

Serpentine Pavilion 2019, designed by Junya Ishigami, Serpentine Gallery, London (21 June – 6 October 2019), © Junya Ishigami + Associates, Photography © 2019 Iwan Baan

Read more on Inexhibit about the Serpentine Summer Pavilion 2019 here

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2018 – Frida Escobedo

Serpentine Pavilion 2018, designed by Frida Escobedo, Serpentine Gallery, London (15 June – 7 October 2018) © Frida Escobedo, Taller de Arquitectura, Photography © 2018 Iwan Baan

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2017 – Diébédo Francis Kéré (Kéré Architecture)

The Serpentine Pavilion 2017 designed by Diébédo Francis Kéré, rendering, interior view

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2016 –  by BIG- Bjarke Ingels 

The Serpentine Pavilion 2016 designed by Bjarke Ingels; photo © Iwan Baan

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2015 – SelgasCano

The Serpentine Pavilion 2015 designed by SelgasCano; photographs © Iwan Baan

Read more on Inexhibit about the Serpentine Summer Pavilion 2015 here

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Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2014 – Smiljan Radić

Top and bottom: the pavilion in September 2014, photos Riccardo Bianchini © Inexhibit
Middle: internal indicative CGI © 2014 Smiljan Radić Studio

We have visited Radić’s pavilion in September 2014, the related article is accessible via the link below!

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Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2013 – Sou Fujimoto

Top: Photograph © 2013 Iwan Baan. Down: Photograph © 2013 Jim Stephenson

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Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012 – Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei

Top: Photograph © 2012 Iwan Baan.  Down: Photograph © 2011 John Offenbach

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Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011 – Peter Zumthor

Photographs © 2011 John Offenbach

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Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2010 – Jean Nouvel

 Photograph © 2010 John Offenbach

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Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009 – Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA

Photograph © 2009 Edmund Sumner/VIEW

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Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2008 – Frank Gehry

Photograph © 2008 Nick Rochowski/VIEW 2014

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Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2007 – Olafur Eliasson & Kjetil Thorsen

Photograph © 2007 Luke Hayes/VIEW

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Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 – Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond, with Arup

Photograph © 2006 John Offenbach

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Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2005 – Álvaro Siza, and Eduardo Souto de Moura with Cecil Balmond

Photograph © 2005 Sally Tallant

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Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2003 – Oscar Niemeyer

Photograph © 2003 Sylvain Deleu TASCHEN has provided the images and the book Serpentine Gallery Pavilions includes more photos and illustrations of the Pavilion commissions

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Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2002 – Toyo Ito and Cecil Balmond with Arup

Photograph © 2002 Sylvain Deleu TASCHEN has provided the images and the book Serpentine Gallery Pavilions includes more photos and illustrations of the Pavilion commissions

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Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2001 Eighteen Turns – Daniel Libeskind with Arup

Photographs © 2001 Hélène Binet

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Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2000 – Zaha Hadid

Photograph © 2000 Hélène Binet