JEAN NOUVEL TO DESIGN SERPENTINE PAVILION
French architect Jean Nouvel has been invited to design the tenth Serpentine gallery pavilion, reports The Guardian’s Gemma Kappala-Ransamy. The dramatic design, which consists of bright red geometric panels with retractable awnings, is part of the gallery’s annual series of temporary summer works. Visitors will find the sixty-four-year-old Pritzker prize–winning architect’s pavilion has been rendered in pillar-box red, to contrast with the lush green lawns of Hyde Park.
The Serpentine commission has become a site for international experimentation and follows a long tradition of pavilions by some of the world’s greatest architects, including Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, and Rem Koolhaas. The structure will be made of glass, polycarbonate and fabric, and will also house the installation Heartbeat by fellow Frenchman, artist Christian Boltanski.
Julia Peyton-Jones, the Serpentine’s director with Hans Ulrich Obrist, her co-director, said they were “thrilled” that Nouvel had accepted what is the only commission of its kind worldwide. The pavilion will be open from July 5–October 20, 2010.
