Serpentine Pavilion

The Serpentine Pavilion by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei is read here as an excavation of memory rather than a freestanding object in the park. Its form gathers traces of the eleven previous pavilions, turning the site itself into part of the work.

Inside, cork gives the pavilion a warm, tactile presence, somewhere between earth, shelter, and temporary occupation. A shallow roof plane hovers above, catching rain and reflecting the sky. The result feels suspended between presence and absence: a quiet archaeology of architecture, shaped as much by what has disappeared as by what remains.