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Here’s what the critics had to say about Lina Ghotmeh's Serpentine Pavilion

2023-06-17T04:00:00-04:00

Reactions in the UK are pouring in after the opening week of Lina Ghotmeh's 2023 Serpentine Pavilion in London’s Kensington Gardens.

The annual installation’s 22nd overall edition features the Lebanese-born Parisian designers palm leaf-shaped timber À table pavilion, which encases a café and communal dining table that references Malian Toguna huts while "inviting us to convene, sit down, think, share, and celebrate exchanges."

Oliver Wainwright got the press’ first crack on June 5, calling it a “symphony of timber” and “one of the most modest, low-lying pavilions of the programme so far" before complimenting its delicate site-responsiveness and the apparent lightness of its materials. “From the aerial vantage point of a drone, it is an elegant sight. It floats like a paper parasol, unfurled in a clearing between the trees, its sharply creased zigzag roof making it look as if it could be folded up and carried off at any minute,” he wrote. “It conjures all the metaphors of palm leave...

Lina Ghotmeh's 2023 Serpentine Pavilion serves the community an invitation to 'dwell together'

2023-06-07T03:00:00-04:00

Lina Ghotmeh’s 2023 Serpentine Pavilion design makes its official debut this week in London. For the 22nd contribution to the summer pavilion series, the Lebanese-born and Paris-based architect showcases a design that highlights aspirations towards community gathering in a manner that speaks to the importance of building relationships while "inviting us to convene, sit down, think, share, and celebrate exchanges."

The design for À table (whose name in French means to call and invite those to sit together for conversation and a meal) is a lightweight, pleated canopy roof that references the structure of a palm leaf. The design of the space aims to "respond to the surrounding tree canopies," while the internal wooden beans are meant to "emerge as thin tree trunks" encompassing the pavilion. The detailed, plant-like cut-out patterns of the panels assist in providing natural light and ventilation in the pavilion as it surrounds a concentric series of tables that sit within the pavilion...

A first look at the 2023 Serpentine Pavilion designed by Lina Ghotmeh

2022-11-23T11:46:00-05:00

Lebanese-born architect Lina Ghotmeh has been selected as the architect for the 2023 Serpentine Pavilion in London. The Paris-based architect will be the 22nd designer of a Serpentine Pavilion, an annual event that began with Zaha Hadid’s commission in 2000.

Ghotmeh’s work sits at the intersection of architecture, art, and design, with particular consideration given to social conditions, environments, and materials. Her approach, therefore, includes a thorough research of location history, typologies, materials, resources, and user habits.

The 2023 Serpentine Pavilion will be titled À table, inspired by the French call to sit together at a table. Ghotmeh’s design will seek to achieve a sense of unity through its form, while an “organic” table and seating formation inside will invite human interaction.

Serpentine Pavilion 2023 designed by Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture. Photo © Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture. Courtesy of Serpentine

“À table is an invitation to dwell together, in the same ...