architecture buzz!!

Designed by Frank Gehry © 2008 Gehry Partners LLP Photograph: John Offenbach

The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2008, which gives England the first built project by legendary architect Frank Gehry, opens on 20 July. The spectacular structure – designed and engineered in collaboration with Arup – is anchored by four massive steel columns and is comprised of large timber planks and a complex network of overlapping glass planes that create a dramatic, multi-dimensional space. Gehry and his team took inspiration for this year’s Pavilion from a fascinating variety of sources including the elaborate wooden catapults designed by Leonardo da Vinci as well as the striped walls of summer beach huts.

Part-amphitheatre,part-promenade, these seemingly random elements will make a transformative place for reflection and relaxation by day, and discussion and performance by night. The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion series, now entering its ninth year, is the world’s first and most ambitious architectural programme of its kind, and is one of the most anticipated events in the international design calendar. Frank Gehry said: “The Pavilion is designed as a wooden timber structure that acts as an urban street running from the park to the existing Gallery. Inside the Pavilion, glass canopies are hung from the wooden structure to protect the interior from wind and rain and provide shade during sunny days. The Pavilion is much like an amphitheatre, designed to serve as a place for live events, music, performance, discussion and debate. As the visitor walks through the Pavilion they have access to terraced seating on both sides of the urban street. In addition to terraced seating there are five elevated seating pods, which are accessed around the perimeter of the Pavilion. These pods serve as visual markers enclosing the street and can be used as stages, private viewing platforms and dining areas.”

Julia Peyton-Jones, Director, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-Director said: “It is an exciting moment for London. Frank Gehry’s visionary Pavilion is remarkable and will be a landmark for the city this summer.” The Pavilion will be the architect’s first built structure in England. He is collaborating for the first time with his son Samuel Gehry. Since 2001, Peter Rogers, Director of Stanhope, has donated his expertise to all aspects of the Serpentine Gallery Pavilions and he continues to play a major role. The Pavilion is a fully accessible public space in the Royal Park of Kensington Gardens it attracts up to 250,000 visitors every summer and is accompanied by an ambitious programme of public talks and events.

Designed by Frank Gehry © 2008 Gehry Partners LLP Photograph: John Offenbach