The Serpentine Gallery is delighted to present the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011 by world-renowned Swiss architect Peter Zumthor.
This year's Pavilion is the 11th commission in the Gallery's annual series, the world's first and most ambitious architectural programme of its kind. It is the architect's first completed building in the UK and includes a specially created garden by the influential Dutch designer Piet Oudolf
The concept for this year's Pavilion is the hortus conclusus, a contemplative room, a garden within a garden. One enters the building from the lawn and begins the transition into the central garden, a place abstracted from the world of noise and traffic and the smells of London - an interior space within which to sit, to walk, to observe the flowers.
With this Pavilion, as with previous structures such as the famous Thermal Baths at Vals, Switzerland, or the Bruder Klaus Chapel in Mechernich, Germany, Zumthor has emphasised the sensory and spiritual aspects of the architectural experience, from the precise yet simple composition and 'presence' of the materials, to the handling of scale and the effect of light.
At the heart of Peter Zumthor's practice is a refined selection of materials used to create contemplative spaces that evoke the spiritual dimension of our physical environment. As always, Zumthor's aesthetic goal is to customise the building precisely to its purpose as a physical body and an object of emotional experience.
READ PETER ZUMTHOR IN CONVERSATION WITH HANS ULRICH OBRIST AND JULIA PEYTON-JONES
Hortus conclusus
'A garden is the most intimate landscape ensemble I know of. It is close to us. There we cultivate the plants we need. A garden requires care and protection. And so we encircle it, we defend it and fend for it. We give it shelter. The garden turns into a place.
Enclosed gardens fascinate me. A forerunner of this fascination is my love of the fenced vegetable gardens on farms in the Alps, where farmers' wives often planted flowers as well. I love the image of these small rectangles cut out of vast alpine meadows, the fence keeping the animals out. There is something else that strikes me in this image of a garden fenced off within the larger landscape around it: something small has found sanctuary within something big.
The hortus conclusus that I dream of is enclosed all around and open to the sky. Every time I imagine a garden in an architectural setting, it turns into a magical place. I think of gardens that I have seen, that I believe I have seen, that I long to see, surrounded by simple walls, columns, arcades or the façades of buildings - sheltered places of great intimacy where I want to stay for a long time.'
Peter Zumthor
May 2011
Peter Zumthor
Born in Basel in 1943, Zumthor trained as a cabinetmaker at the shop of his father, as a designer and architect at the Kunstgewerbeschule Basel and at Pratt Institute, New York. In 1979 he established his own practice in Haldenstein, Switzerland. Major Buildings: Protective Housing for Roman Archaeological Excavations, Chur, Switzerland, 1986; Sogn Benedetg Chapel, Sumvitg, Switzerland, 1988; Therme Vals, Switzerland, 1996; Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria, 1997; Swiss Sound Box, Swiss Pavilion, Expo 2000, Hanover, Germany, 2000; Kolumba Art Museum, Cologne, Germany, 2007; Bruder Klaus Field Chapel, Wachendorf, Germany, 2007. Major Awards: Carlsberg Architectural Prize, Copenhagen, 1998; Mies van der Rohe Award for European Architecture, Barcelona, 1998; Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award, Wood in Culture Association, Finland, 2006; Praemium Imperiale, Japan Art Association, 2008; The Pritzker Architecture Prize, The Hyatt Foundation, 2009.
Piet Oudolf
Oudolf's projects include the internationally renowned High Line in New York, which involved planting along a railway line that winds through the city. Combining minimalism with ecology, this garden was conceived of as a series of interwoven elements that lead visitors along a richly planted path. Other notable designs include the Lurie Garden in Millennium Park, Chicago; Wisley, the Royal Horticultural Society Garden in Surrey; Il Giardino delle Vergini at the 2010 Venice Biennale; and his own innovative garden in Hummelo, The Netherlands. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2010 Award of Distinction by the Association of Professional Landscape Designers and the 2009 Dalecarlica Award, Sweden. Oudolf's garden was also awarded 'Best in Show' at the 2000 Chelsea Flower Show, London. In 2010 he was named as one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company Magazine.
Press coverage
Switzerland's 'starchitect' to build in Britain, The Independent, Monday 4 April 2011
Serpentine commission is a real coup for gallery, The Independent, Monday 4 April 2011
Peter Zumthor unveils secret garden for Serpentine pavilion, The Guardian, Monday 4 April 2011
Revealed: Swiss Architect Peter Zumthor's Design for 11th Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, Art Daily, Friday 8 April 2011
Peter Zumthor's experiments in space, The Independent, Monday 6 June 2011
Peter Zumthor: In pursuit of perfection, The Guardian, Sunday 19 June 2011
Serpentine Pavilion mixes modern with medieval, London Evening Standard, Monday 27 June 2011
Julia Peyton-Jones: 'I feel impoverished. We are adrift from nature', The Independent, Monday 27 June 2011
Swiss-made Serpentine pavilion presents garden of tranquility, The Guardian, Monday 27 June 2011
Everything in the garden is lovely, London Evening Standard, Tuesday 28 June 2011
Peter Zumthor's Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011, review, Tuesday 28 June 2011
Serpentine Pavilion takes gallery visitors over to the dark side, The Independent, Tuesday 28 June 2011
Piet Oudolf's garden at the Serpentine Gallery pavilion, The Telegraph, Wednesday 29 June 2011
Serpentine pavillion 2011: 'I hope people relax here' - video, The Guardian, Thursday 30 June 2011
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion at Hyde Park, W2, The Times, Thursday 30 June 2011
The unplugged pavilion, Financial Times, Friday 1 July 2011
Peter Zumthor's Serpentine Pavilion (video), Deutsche Welle Media Centre, Saturday 2 July 2011
Serpentine Pavilion 2011 - Peter Zumthor (video), Detail, Tuesday 5 July 2011
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion Commission
The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion commission is an ongoing programme of temporary structures by internationally acclaimed architects and designers. The series is unique worldwide and presents the work of an international architect or design team who has not completed a building in England at the time of the Gallery's invitation. The Pavilion architects to date are: Jean Nouvel, 2010; Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, SANAA, 2009; Frank Gehry, 2008; Olafur Eliasson and Kjetil Thorsen, 2007; Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond, with Arup, 2006; Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura with Cecil Balmond, Arup, 2005; MVRDV with Arup, 2004 (un-realised); Oscar Niemeyer, 2003; Toyo Ito with Arup, 2002; Daniel Libeskind with Arup, 2001; and Zaha Hadid, 2000.Zumthor's Serpentine Gallery Pavilion will operate as a public space and as a venue for Park Nights, the Gallery's high-profile programme of public talks and events. Park Nights will culminate in the annual Serpentine Gallery Marathon in October, now in its sixth year. In 2006 the Park Nights programme included the renowned 24-hour Serpentine Gallery Interview Marathon, convened by Hans Ulrich Obrist and architect Rem Koolhaas; in 2007, by the Serpentine Gallery Experiment Marathon presented by artist Olafur Eliasson and Hans Ulrich Obrist; in 2008, Obrist led over 60 participants in the Serpentine Gallery Manifesto Marathon. This was followed in 2009 by the Serpentine Gallery Poetry Marathon and in 2010 by the Serpentine Gallery Map Marathon.
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011
Designed by Peter Zumthor
© Peter Zumthor
Photograph: John Offenbach
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011
Designed by Peter Zumthor
© Peter Zumthor
Photograph: John Offenbach
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011
Designed by Peter Zumthor
© Peter Zumthor
Photograph: John Offenbach
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011
Designed by Peter Zumthor
© Peter Zumthor
Photograph: Walter Herfst
