Theaster Gates' Serpentine Pavilion has been revealed in London's Kensington Gardens, showcasing his vision for a Black Chapel that advances the fair's evangelizing mission to be an incubator for community building, civic culture, and public engagement.
In a circular form evoking several architectural traditions and cultures, including traditional African structures and Hungarian round churches, the pavilion is rendered in the same stark-looking black tar color as the suite of 14 new paintings Gates executed for the exhibition, providing an additional reference to the meditative elements present in Houston's Rothko Chapel, which the 48-year-old artist credited as an additional source of design inspiration.
Gates conceives of his pavilion as “a site for contemplation and convening” where gatherers are hailed together artistically in remembrance of lost places of “spiritual communion” that populate urban areas like London and his hometown of Chicago. It was executed with design help from Adjaye Associates and wants to emphasize its purpose especially as a space for sacred music that carries many reflections of their shared investment in community revitalization projects in Chicago’s South Side.
Featuring a rectangular entry portal garnished with a bell salvaged from the erstwhile St. Laurence Church in Chicago that will be used as a starting signal for the exhibition’s program of performances, activations, and other public events, the pavilion uses a single oculus to pour light into the interior flexible gallery spaces. In a press statement, the curator said it was realized in unison with the same vessel concept derived through his longstanding studio practice and constructed in part using roofing practices like torch downing learned from his father’s trade as a craftsman.
Gates previewed his design for the 21st Serpentine exhibition back in February, promising its plywood and waterproof membrane exterior would shelter a “place of quietude” in the wake of our collective recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
What he has created months later is a testament to the hard work of community building that has characterized his career as an artist, complemented by his status as the first non-architect to be commissioned in Serpentine Pavilion history, that will stand along with last year's contribution from Conterspace founder Sumayya Vally as evidence of a focus shifting towards the marginalized, dispossessed, and underprivileged.
Related on Archinect: A Conversation with Theaster Gates; Archinect Sessions Episode #136
Visitors will have the chance to see and experience the pavilion in person starting June 10th. A preview with Adjaye and Hans Ulrich Obrist will also be held on June 8th in which the pair will explore their work in art, architecture, urbanism, and space-making. The exhibition ends on October 16th.
More information about this year’s Serpentine program can be found here.
12 Comments
Looks ... stark. I guess the provenance of the bell and the fabrication process lends the structure meaning.
The form of the Rothko Chapel is a modified octagon. It is not circular.
Very astute of you. However, you must have missed the quote entirely;
In a circular form evoking several architectural traditions and cultures, including the Rothko Chapel and traditional African structures the pavilion is rendered in the same stark-looking black tar color as the suite of 14 new paintings Gates executed for the exhibition.
So, I'll help you out.
Definition of evoke
transitive verb
1: to call forth or up: such as
a: to bring to mind or recollection
this place evokes memories
b: to cite especially with approval or for support : INVOKE
c: CONJURE sense 2aevoke evil spirits
2: to re-create imaginatively
You choose.
Something about roof membrane as wall cladding really gets me going...
There's certainly more poetics at play here than some other recent winners (BIG, SelgasCano) and for that I applaud it - we could use more heartfelt and lyrical spaces in architecture.
I like the cladding as well. Does anybody have an idea what product or system might be in use? My best guess is an EPDM membrane applied very precisely. The fins may be a sort of add-on termination accessory
b3tadine[sutures]
I didn't miss the quote entirely. Having visited the Rothko chapel on many occasions, it's a bit of a stretch to suggest the Gates' Serpentine Pavilion evokes the form of Rothko Chapel, unless all circular forms evoke all octagonal forms.
This exchange highlights well the sometimes lazy, loosey-goosey approach to language and description in writing about architecture. The red folder on my desk may evoke a feeling of love signified elsewhere in Valentine cards, as well as a sense of dread occasioned by drops of blood in the sink when I cut myself shaving, but this is not automatically interesting. So just because it's true doesn't make it relevant. It might, but the writer may need to tell us why.
.
hpm, did you notice the contents when you were in the Rothko chapel? The evoking in question is not exactly a formal thing.
This project is great. It demands a lot more of the viewer than previous pavilions. It will change the public events quite a bit - all the previous projects could be ignored when it came to thinking big thoughts and so on. They were all innocuous. Cool, powerful as formal things, but even with all the flash and pomp still only just touching on anything serious or provoking.
On the other hand this project is so focused it is hard to imagine the conversations will be as broad as previous years. That is the risk I suppose with the change in direction. Love it. And what a benchmark to set for following years.
But the very best thing is that the Serpentine project has decided not to go the way of the franchise mentality. They are not fearfully staying in the laneway created by previous great projects, and are willing to try something that could fail. That is pretty damn cool - and rare - for our day and age.
I think citizen made the point re: Rothko chapel in their comment above - the language in the writing talks about form, but what I think was meant was that it evokes it not just through form, but atmosphere and restraint, as you point out.
well yeah there is room to quibble, but its a line out of thousands of lines written about this project already and the meaning was clear enough, and this is not The Atlantic. Brevity got in the way of clarity. It happens. In the meantime there is a lot of content in the actual project that could be discussed. A lot of firsts going on...
Nope, definitely not The Atlantic. Only making a general point that architectural writing is not automatically relevant, insightful, or immune from critique just because it's published. Not commenting on this project, which certainly has its compelling features.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.