Technogym
Technogym
Technogym

SelgasCano’s Serpentine Pavilion opens this week with emphasis on colour and light

by Jason Holland | 22 Jun 2015

Spanish architecture studio SelgasCano’s colourful Serpentine Pavilion in London’s Kensington Gardens is to open this week.

It is the fifteenth incarnation of the pavilion commission, with different architects creating a temporary structure outside the Serpentine Gallery every year. The aim is to both celebrate innovative designs in contemporary architecture and provide a space for people to meet and experience live events.

Led by husband-and-wife duo José Selgas and Lucía Cano, SelgasCano’s amorphous, double-skinned, polygonal structure consists of panels of a translucent, multi-coloured fluorine-based polymer (ETFE) woven through and wrapped like webbing.

The pavilion features numerous entry and exit points, as well as a ‘secret corridor’ between the outer and inner layer of the structure and into its stained glass-effect interior.

“We sought a way to allow the public to experience architecture through simple elements: structure, light, transparency, shadows, lightness, form, sensitivity, change, surprise, colour and materials,” said the architects.

“The spatial qualities of the pavilion only unfold when accessing the structure and being immersed within it. Each entrance allows for a specific journey through the space, characterised by colour, light and irregular shapes with surprising volumes.”

The Serpentine Pavilion is open to the public from 25 June until 18 October 2015.