Summer Pavilion at Serpentine Gallery

This year sees the 12th summer pavilion at Serpentine Gallery open to the public at the renowned Kensington Gardens gallery, with a design created and installed by architects Herzog and de Meuron, and artist Ai Weiwei.

Summer pavilion at Serpentine Gallery
Following a decade of stunning architectural designs and installations, the Serpentine Gallery are hosting yet another innovative and no doubt popular work for the summer of 2012. With the aim of helping visitors explore the history of the Summer Pavilion scheme, the pavilion design by Herzog and de Meuron and Ai Weiwei places an emphasis on hidden history of each previous pavilion design. With a secret tunnel located at the centre of the pavilion, this underground installation will no doubt be a big hit with those seeking a little calm in the centre of the city.

Contemplative space
Created underneath the Serpentine Gallery's lawn, the structure for this year's summer pavilion at Serpentine Gallery features 11 columns representing each past pavilion, along with a 12th which represents the current design. With a floating platform supported by the 12 columns, nearly one and a half metres above ground, the interior is clad in cork, chosen for its sustainable and earth-like qualities.

Emotional experience
Designed with the aim of taking visitors away from the noise, traffic and smells of the city outside, the pavilion acts with a kind of archaeological approach. Entering the structure and heading undeground, visitors are invited to look beneath the surface of the park and explore the history of its relationship to its ghostly redecessors. Emphasising the role that the sense of discovery plays in your experience of architecture, the 12th summer pavilion at Serpentine Gallery seeks to evoke a reflective and historical dimension to an otherwise simple environment.

London 2012 Festival
As part of the London 2012 Festival, it is only fitting that the 12th summer pavilion at Serpentine Gallery has been designed by the collaborative team that brought the world the 2008 Olympic Games Beijing National Stadium. Bringing. No doubt certain to be a big hit with tourists and Londoners alike, the annual summer pavilion gets extra credit for its involvement in the biggest cultural celebration of the year.

The Herzong and de Meuron and Ai Weiwei summer pavilion at Serpentine Gallery takes place from 1st June - 14th October 2012. Entrance is free.

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Heatherwick Studio at V&A Museum

Leonardo da Vinci at Queens Gallery

Wild Planet at Natural History Museum

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