First Look at the 2019 Serpentine Pavilion

Written by Eric Baldwin
Published on June 18, 2019

Japanese architect Junya Ishigami's 2019 Serpentine Pavilion is taking shape in London. A series of photographs by Laurian Ghinitoiu showcase the project and its flowing, free-form roof. Ishigami is the second-youngest designer of the pavilion, and his work is known for a light and ephemeral approach. The design for the 2019 pavilion takes the form of a slate sheet rising from the landscape of the park, held up by pilotis that form an interior field.

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Junya Ishigami explained that his design for the pavilion exemplifies his 'free space' philosophy in which he seeks harmony between man-made structures and those that already exist. "My design for the Pavilion plays with our perspectives of the built environment against the backdrop of a natural landscape, emphasizing a natural and organic feel as though it had grown out of the lawn, resembling a hill made out of rocks," explained Ishigami.

The Serpentine Pavilion program was established in 2000 by Julia Peyton Jones and Hans Ulrich Obrist to give international designers the opportunity to share their talent amongst a new and influential audience. The commission is famous for its intense timeframe: selected designers have just six months upon commission to design and realize their pavilion, resulting in a compressed process that encourages experimentation and quick thinking.

The new pavilion follows a controversy surrounding unpaid internships at Junya Ishigami + Associates, as the Serpentine Gallery ordered the firm to pay all staff who worked on the design of the 2019 pavilion. Criticism of the working conditions of interns at the firm followed an email reportedly seen by The Architects’ Journal, with a prospective intern highlighting a lack of pay, six-day work weeks, and long office hours. The Serpentine released a statement on March 27th clarifying that it would not allow unpaid internships or positions to form part of the design team behind the 2019 Pavilion.

Ishigami is the 19th architect to design a pavilion at the Serpentine, following works by Frida Escobedo (2018), Francis Kere (2017), Bjarke Ingels (2016), and SelgasCano (2015).