Open daily, 10am - 6pm
Friday evenings from 23 July to 8 October, the Pavilion is open until 10pm
Admission free
This year—the Serpentine's 40th Anniversary—the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion is designed by world-renowned French architect Jean Nouvel. This 2010 Pavilion is the 10th commission in the Gallery’s annual series, the world’s first and most ambitious architectural programme of its kind. It will be the architect’s first completed building in the UK.
The Pavilion commission has become an international site for architectural experimentation and follows a long tradition of Pavilions by some of the world’s greatest architects. The immediacy of the commission – a maximum of six months from invitation to completion – provides a unique model worldwide.
The design for the 2010 Pavilion is a contrast of lightweight materials and dramatic metal cantilevered structures. The entire design is rendered in a vivid red that, in a play of opposites, contrasts with the green of its park setting. In London, the colour reflects the iconic British images of traditional telephone boxes, post boxes and London buses.
The building consists of bold geometric forms, large retractable awnings and a sloped freestanding wall that stands 12m above the lawn. Striking glass, polycarbonate and fabric structures create a versatile system of interior and exterior spaces, while the flexible auditorium will accommodate the Serpentine Gallery Park Nights and Marathon and the changing summer weather.
Nouvel’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion will operate as a public space, a café and as a venue for Park Nights, the Gallery’s acclaimed programme of public talks and events, which attracts up to 250,000 visitors each summer. The pavilion design highlights the idea of play with its incorporation of traditional French outdoor table-tennis tables.
Jean Nouvel Talk
12 July
Jean Nouvel's talk about his design for the 2010 Pavilion can be heard and downloaded here.
Jean Nouvel
Jean Nouvel (b. 1945, Fumel, France) studied at the Ecole nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in Paris. From 1967 to 1970, he worked as an assistant and then as project manager to the acclaimed architects Claude Parent and Paul Virilio. Nouvel has headed his own architectural practice since 1970. In 1994 he established Ateliers Jean Nouvel, which is now one of the largest architectural practices in France with offices worldwide. Ateliers Jean Nouvel specialises in the fields of architecture, urban design, landscape design, industrial design and interior design. Along with the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion commission, Nouvel has recently unveiled his plans for the new National Museum of Qatar.
Nouvel’s body of work is unparalleled in its innovation and range. His approach is characterised by a conceptual rigour, rather than by an overarching aesthetic. He emphasises research, analysis and discussion, creating designs that are highly individual to each project. A key part of Nouvel’s process is his embrace of other disciplines, including music, literature and the moving image.
Admission to the Pavilion is free
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2010
by Jean Nouvel
July – October 2010
Serpentine Gallery
Kensington Gardens
London W2 3XA
T 020 7402 6075
information@serpentinegallery.org
Sunday Times Sundays
From 25 July, enjoy early out-of-hours access to the Pavilion, café and games before it opens to the public on Sunday mornings. Bring a voucher from the Sunday Times Culture magazine or download one below to gain early entry.
DOWNLOAD VOUCHER HERE
Friday evenings in the Summer: Park Nights
Park Nights is an annual series of music, theatre, performances, talks and film screenings stages on Friday nights in the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion by Jean Nouvel. Park Nights culminates on the weekend of 16 and 17 October with Map Marathon, the latest in the Serpentine's series of Marathon events, conceived by Hans Ulrich Obrist.
Full details for Park Nights events
Park Nights events are ticketed. Buy early to ensure your space:
Tickets £5/4
Available from the Gallery Lobby Desk
or Ticketweb: (0)8444 771 000
www.ticketweb.co.uk
Previous Serpentine Gallery Pavilions
Map of the Pavilion's location
Nearest Tube: South Kensington or Lancaster Gate
Gallery open 10am to 6pm daily.
Serpentine Pavilion 2010 by Jean Nouvel from O Production Ltd.
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2010
Designed by Jean Nouvel
© Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Photograph: Philippe Ruault
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2010
Designed by Jean Nouvel
© Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Photograph: Philippe Ruault
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2010
Designed by Jean Nouvel
© Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Photograph: John Offenbach
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2010
Designed by Jean Nouvel
© Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Photograph: Philippe Ruault
Architect: Jean Nouvel
Ateliers Jean Nouvel Design Team
Gaston Tolila, Project Partner
Ute Rinnebach, Project Manager
Driss Benabdallah
Sophie Laromiguiere
Visualisation:
Raphael Renard
Vatsana Takham
Landscape:
Isabelle Auricoste-Tonka
Engineering: Arup
Cecil Balmond
David Glover
Ed Clark
Ben Moss
Paul Nuttall
Felix Weber
Graham Hennessy
Jeff Shaw
Charlotte Roben
Jack Wilshaw
Wojciech Cepok
Project Directors
Julia Peyton-Jones
with Hans Ulrich Obrist, Serpentine Gallery
Project Leader
Julie Burnell, Serpentine Gallery
Project & Construction Management: MACE
Stephen Pycroft
Gareth Lewis
Ian Eggers
Phil Solomon
Benn Chandler
Tony Blackledge
Vishal Mehta
Gurmeet Virdee
Robert Vine
Construction: Stage One
Ted Featonby, Project Manager
Mick Mead, Supervisor
Project Advisors
Lord Palumbo, Chairman, Serpentine Board of Trustees
Zaha Hadid, Architect, Serpentine Board of Trustees
Peter Rogers, Director, Stanhope Plc
Mark Camley, Chief Executive, Royal Parks Agency
Colin Buttery, Director of Parks, Royal Parks Agency
Simon Betts, Estate Manager, Royal Parks Agency
Tom Jarvis, Park Superintendent, Kensington Gardens, Royal Parks Agency
Westminster City Council Planning Office
Hassan Lashkariani, Westminster City Council District Surveyor’s Office (Building Control)
Jenny Wilson, Westminster City Council (Licensing Authority)
London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority
London Region, English Heritage
Friends of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens
Contractors
AEL (awnings)
Barbed (outdoor tables)
Campeggi (bar stools and Pisola chairs)
DP9 (planning application and services)
Eckelt Glas (glass)
Elliott Thomas (site security)
Emeco & Coca-Cola (chairs)
EPS (temporary electrical systems and generator)
Established & Sons (stools and tables)
FRED & FRED (perspex prism wall and limited editions)
GKR (scaffold)
GTL Partnership Ltd (screw pile foundations)
Hasmead (soft landscaping and planting)
John Doyle (site services and ground works)
Knight Frank (sale of Pavilion)
Kvadrat (curtains)
Lend Lease Projects (CDM co-ordination)
LMV Design (cafe furniture)
Mint (café)
NG Bailey (electrical systems and CCTV)
Omnicolour (signage production)
RBC Mobilier & Arper (auditorium chairs)
Samsung (video equipment)
SES (surveying and site set-out)
Smeg (refrigerators)
Table Tennis Pro (table tennis tables)
WE-EF (lighting)
Weil, Gotshal & Manges (legal services)
