Artist and urban planner Theaster Gates has been selected to design the 2022 Serpentine Pavilion. This will be the first time that the Serpentine Gallery has awarded this commission to a non-architect. Gates is currently a professor at the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Chicago. Utilizing his background in urban planning, his work focuses on space theory and land development, sculpture, and performance, integrating sound, motion, Black history, and architectural features. 

His most famous work, the ongoing Dorchester Projects, began in 2008 in the wake of the financial crisis when Gates bought a number of rundown properties on Chicago’s South Side, where he grew up and currently lives. In collaboration with architects and designers, he converted these derelict buildings into community centers and cultural institutions. He also repurposed the scrap within these sites as art and injected the money made back into the neighborhood. Projects include the Archive House, formerly a closed-down bookstore, that now holds 14,000 architecture books. 

Gates is also well known for his non-profit Rebuild Foundation. Similar to Dorchester Projects, the initiative purchases abandoned buildings in the South Side of Chicago and transforms them into community hubs that serve as platforms for art, cultural development, and professional skill training. 

The Serpentine Gallery has said it is still too early to discuss the details regarding Gates’ installation, however in looking through his body of work, inferences can be made.