Serpentine Pavilion 2006
The Serpentine Pavilion 2006 is co-designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Rem Koolhaas and structural designer Cecil Balmond. The centrepiece of the design is a spectacular ovoid- shaped inflatable canopy that floats above the Serpentine's lawn. Made from translucent material, the structure is illuminated from within at night. The canopy will be raised into the air or lowered to cover the amphitheatre below according to the weather.
The walled enclosure below the canopy functions both as a café and forum for daily televised and recorded public programmes including live talks and film screenings in the Time Out Park Nights at the Serpentine Gallery programme. Highlights include two 24-hour interview marathons (convened by Koolhaas and Hans Ulrich Obrist) with leading politicians, architects, philosophers, writers, artists, film-makers and economists exposing the hidden and invisible layers of London.
A major exhibition of works by the German artist, Thomas Demand, will be on show at the Serpentine during this period. Demand is developing work to be included in the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006.
Rem Koolhaas said: "The 2006 Serpentine Pavilion will be defined by events and activities. We are proposing a space that facilitates the inclusion of individuals in communal dialogue and shared experience."
Cecil Balmond said: "These Pavilions have evolved with various structural typologies and materials, provoking a debate on architecture; this year the exploration continues not only with typology and material but with the very definition of Pavilion."
Construction period: 8 May 2006 – 4 July 2006
Overall Site area: 650 sqm
Footprint of Pavilion: 346 sqm
Maximum height of inflated membrane: 24m
Floor platform: Galvanised steel frame with non–slip galvanised floor; Roof canopy: Semitransparent PVC air filled membrane; Walls: Clear twin walled polycarbonate sheet. Pavilion Programme: Time Out Park Nights programme of talks, films, lectures, throughout the Pavilion period (18.00 – 23.00). By special arrangement, and with permission from the Royal Parks, two 24-hour interview events were held, over two separate weekends, within the Pavilion.
