The official opening date for the 23rd Serpentine Pavilion has been announced for June 7th, 2024. The structure designed by Seoul-based Korean architect Minsuk Cho and his firm Mass Studies, will welcome visitors until October 27, 2024, in London’s Kensington Gardens. Titled “Archipelagic Void,” the pavilion is composed of five islands displayed around a central void in reference to the mandang, a type of open courtyard found in traditional Korean houses. The intervention will be activated throughout the summer with a diverse program of events, starting with a conversation between Minsuk Cho and Serpentine Artistic Director Hans Ulrich Obrist on June 7, 2024.
The five islands of the pavilion each serve a specific function. The “Gallery” expands the Serpentine South’s curatorial activities, hosting a sound installation by musician and composer Jan Young-Gyu, who draws inspiration from traditional Korean instruments. Inspired by the Pavilion's environment, Jang blends natural and human sounds from Kensington Gardens with traditional Korean music. The unique tones and melodies reflect the changing seasons, responding to the Park's ever-evolving landscape and ecology.
The “Library of Unread Books" welcomes the intervention of artist Heman Chong and archivist Renée Staal who launched a challenge to the visitors to bring their personal unused books to the pavilion. In a nod to the history of the Serpentine building, which functioned as a tea house until the early 1960s, the “Tea House” offers a space for gathering in a structure designed by James Grey West.
The fourth island “Play Tower,” brings an element of playfulness and creativity, creating a structure fitted a bright orange nets to encourage dynamic interactions. The last section, the “Auditorium,” represents the largest island featuring benches built into its inner walls to offer a flexible space for the pavilion’s diverse cultural program. The spaces between these structures also have distinct spatial identities, acting as thresholds between the surrounding park and the pavilion activities.
We began by asking what can be uncovered and added to the Serpentine site, which has already explored over 20 iterations at the center of the lawn, from a roster of great architects and artists. To approach this new chapter differently, instead of viewing it as a carte blanche, we embraced the challenge of considering the many existing peripheral elements while exploring the center as a void. It also begins to address the history of the Serpentine Pavilion. By inverting the center as a void, we shift our architectural focus away from the built center of the past, facilitating new possibilities and narratives. - Minsuk Cho, Architect, Mass Studies
The Serpentine Pavilion inaugurated in 2000, offers a platform for both distinguished and up-and-coming architects to experiment while allowing them to bring forward important themes in the architecture field. The last Serpentine Pavilion, designed by French-Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh proposed a space for coming together, an opportunity to engage in open dialogue and even to share a meal. Before this, artist Theaster Gates created a calm space for contemplation, ensuring that all the materials employed came from sustainable sources and were made with fair labor conditions throughout their supply chain.
