Smiljan Radic’s Serpentine Galleries Commission

Architect Smiljan Radic becomes the fourteenth architect commissioned by the Serpentine to design a pavilion outside the entrance to its Kensington Gardens gallery. Conceived in 2000 by director Julia Peyton-Jones, the Pavilion project has presented works by highly prestigious architects and become an important site for architectural experimentation. Radic’s design references his earlier work, much of which resides in his native Chile, but also speaks to the architectural traditions of England. “The Serpentine 2014 Pavilion is part of the history of small romantic constructions seen in parks or large gardens, the so-called follies, which were hugely popular from the end of the sixteenth century to the start of the nineteenth,” Radic says. His semi-transparent cylindrical structure atop large quarry stones resembles a shell and encloses a flexible, multipurpose social space with a cafe?. During its four-month tenure (June 26 to October 19), it will provide a venue for the Serpentine’s Park Nights series— interdisciplinary events combining art, poetry, music, film, literature, and theory. The pavilion itself will offer additional enticement for visitors at night, Radic says—the amber-tinted light showing through the translucent shell “will attract the attention of passers-by like lamps attracting moths.” serpentinegalleries.org

Internal indicative CGI © 2014 Smiljan Radic Studio