Archinect - News

New Fairy Tale Architecture in Places Journal

2016-12-22T16:46:00-05:00

How many architects, young and old, have been inspired by a hero or heroine who must imagine new realms and new spaces — new ways of being in this strange world? This project presents a line of flight into architecture as a fantastic, literary realm of becoming.

This week, our series on Fairy Tale Architecture returns with four new designs by Snøhetta, Ultramoderne, Smiljan Radić, and Bernheimer Architecture. Each one explores the relationship between the domestic structures of fairy tales and the imaginative realm of architecture. But don’t expect a light escape into fantasy. These fantastical worlds draw their power from engagement with the real.

Tiddalik the Frog, designed by Snøhetta

Flatland, designed by Ultramoderne

Gripho, designed by Smiljan Radić

The Seven Ravens, designed by Bernheimer Architecture

Chilean architecture is coming out of its shell

2015-05-18T13:41:00-04:00

Chilean architects have begun to exert an influence well beyond the size and scale of their string-bean nation. [...] “There are enough people working here in a way that shifts the art,” explains Aravena, sitting in the middle of his firm’s buzzing Santiago offices. “There is healthy competition and there is critical mass. When you have a critical mass, you are not alone in trying to push boundaries.” The result: remarkable buildings all over Chile.

Smiljan Radić’s Serpentine Pavilion Moves to Somerset

2015-03-24T17:44:00-04:00

Last year, Chilean architect Smiljan Radić revealed his Serpentine Pavilion—an enormous shell-shaped structure perched atop jagged quarry stones in Hyde Park—as part of the London gallery’s prestigious architecture program. Thousands of visitors examined its translucent fiberglass walls over the course of the summer. This week, the pavilion will be unveiled at its new, permanent home, amid the spring gardens of Hauser & Wirth Somerset in Bruton, about two and a half hours from London by train.

Smiljan Radic: A Rock Star Among Architects

2014-07-10T13:13:00-04:00

Two weeks ago, a translucent pod of glass-reinforced plastic, poised atop enormous sandstone boulders, appeared on a curve of lawn in Kensington Gardens in London. The folly [...] is by the Chilean architect Smiljan Radic, whom the nearby Serpentine Galleries chose to create a temporary structure in its front yard. It is the 14th year that the museum has commissioned a Serpentine Pavilion, always turning to an architect who has not previously built in Britain [...].

Smiljan Radic unveils egglike 14th Serpentine Pavilion in London's Kensington Gardens

2014-06-24T13:17:00-04:00

Since the announcement this past March, Chilean architect Smiljan Radic has unveiled the 14th Serpentine Pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery's Kensington Gardens in London. For the past 14 years, the Serpentine Gallery has invited famous architects like Sou Fujimoto, Jean Nouvel, SANAA, and Frank Gehry to design the annual temporary structure for the London Festival of Architecture. Their famous designers aside, the pavilions themselves are a story of their own.

An eggshell. A "Stone Age spaceship". A cocoon. A deformed donut -- Radic's design for the 14th Serpentine Pavilion is already receiving plenty of colorful descriptions. Supported by massive quarry stones, Radic's pavilion is a fiberglass, semi-transparent hollow shell that will be used to host a variety of social and cultural events and will also include a cafe inside. The pavilion's flooring also features gray wooden decking to make the structure feel more like a patio than a fully enclosed space.

Playing on the idea of the f...

Smiljan Radic to design 14th Serpentine Galleries Pavilion

2014-03-12T13:36:00-04:00

Chilean architect Smiljan Radic was commissioned by Serpentine Gallery to design the 2014 Serpentine Galleries Pavilion. Designed by big-name architects since 2000, the temporary pavilion has become a major summer attraction in London's Kensington Gardens for the London Festival of Architecture.

Reflective of Radic's past works, his design for the pavilion is a semi-transparent, shell-like "pod" that will serve as a multi-functional public space and venue.

Read on for more details about the project:

"Occupying a footprint of some 350 square metres on the lawn of the Serpentine Gallery, plans depict a semi-translucent, cylindrical structure, designed to resemble a shell, resting on large quarry stones. Radic’s Pavilion has its roots in his earlier work, particularly The Castle of the Selfish Giant, inspired by the Oscar Wilde story, and the Restaurant Mestizo, part of which is supported by large boulders.

Designed as a flexible, multi-purpose social space with a café sited inside, the Pa...