On a recent trip to London we made time to get over to the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion.
This year it was a creation by architects Herzog and de Meuron collaborating with artist Ai Weiwei. (this video link has Jaques Herzog talking about the collaboration)
I was especially pleased to get to visit it as this year it is a buried structure; laid out using the imagined excavations of the previous years pavilions. I thought the idea of modern archeology was a really thought-provoking approach to this annual building.
As you walk through Kensington gardens it is hard to spot the building as it is so low-lying. I had the sensation of approaching a tribal structure, something protective and discreet, a meeting hall for a secretive forest dwelling people? Being circular at was also very democratic and social.
Once inside that feeling of being under ground increases due to the all the surfaces being lined in cork. This not only has the effect of deadening a lot of the outdoor city sounds, and of being a protective, gentle surface, it also has an earth-like quality. Something evocative of an animal's den or sett.
close up of cork surface.
The other effect I liked was the looking up and out, with the cork-clad steps taking the eye to the surrounding trees (which acted like an encampment outer wall - definitely getting the archaeological feeling with that!), the bark of the trees a reminder of the source material.
There was something about the roof that also made me feel the structure was created by an ancient people who didn't want to be discovered by the modern world. The clever use of a water-topped roof made good use of mirroring the sky and trees. A deliberate camouflaging technique?
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