Marina Tabassum has been selected as the architect for the 2025 Serpentine Pavilion in London. The Bangladeshi architect and her firm Marina Tabassum Architects will be the 24th designers of the Serpentine Pavilion, an annual event that began with Zaha Hadid’s commission in 2000.
Titled 'A Capsule in Time,' the pavilion will open on June 6th, 2025. Building on Tabassum's contemporary architectural approach rooted in place, climate, culture, and history, the design of the pavilion seeks to create a dialogue between permanence and ephemerality. The design features four wooden capsule forms with translucent façades, inspired by park traditions and arched garden canopies, which filter light to create a dynamic interplay of light and shadow. A central court aligns with Serpentine South’s bell tower, anchoring the design to its surroundings.
A key feature of the pavilion is its kinetic element, with one of the capsules capable of moving and connecting, transforming the structure into a flexible space. Drawing on the heritage of South Asian Shamiyana tents, the pavilion highlights the "sensory and spiritual possibilities of architecture" through a play on light and shadow, inviting visitors to engage in conversations, live programs, and public gatherings.
“When conceiving our design, we reflected on the transient nature of the commission which appears to us as a capsule of memory and time,” Tabassum said about the pavilion’s design. “The relationship between time and architecture is intriguing: between permanence and impermanence, of birth, age and ruin; architecture aspires to outlive time. Architecture is a tool to live behind legacies, fulfilling the inherent human desire for continuity beyond life.”
“In the Bengal delta, architecture is ephemeral as dwellings change locations with the rivers shifting courses,” Tabassum added. “Architecture becomes memories of the lived spaces continued through tales. The archaic volume of a half capsule, generated by geometry and wrapped in light semi-transparent material will create a play of filtered light that will pierce through the structure as if under a Shamiyana at a Bengali wedding.”
2025 will see Serpentine mark a quarter century since its annual pavilion commission began with Zaha Hadid’s inaugural structure in Hyde Park in 2000. Since then, the pavilion has been commissioned and constructed every year with the exception of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside the unveiling of a new pavilion, 2025 will also kickstart a program of events on the commission, its history, and its future.
Since its founding, the annual commission has become a high-profile showcase of temporary buildings by international architects, with Serpentine inviting an internationally renowned architect to create their first built structure in England. The commission has "become an international site for architectural experimentation and has presented projects by some of the world’s greatest architects," Serpentine adds.
Tabassum's commission for the 2025 pavilion follows last year’s design by Minsuk Cho and Mass Studies. The 2023 edition was designed by Lina Ghotmeh, with 2022's pavilion designed by Theaster Gates. The 2021 edition was designed by South African studio Counterspace, whose original 2020 commission was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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