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The head of the Serpentine Galleries has resigned after the Guardian revealed she is the co-owner of an Israeli cyberweapons company whose software has allegedly been used by authoritarian regimes to spy on dissidents.
On Tuesday, Yana Peel announced she was stepping down as the chief executive of the prestigious London art gallery so the work of the Serpentine would not be undermined by what she called “misguided personal attacks on me and my family”.
— The Guardian
Announcing her unexpected departure from the Serpentine Galleries in a statement, Yana Peel said, “I have decided I am better able to continue my work in supporting the arts, the advancement of human rights, and freedom of expression by moving away from my current role.” Peel added, “The... View full entry
Ishigami’s structure is a striking object, but it could have been so much better, and it is a frustrating outcome in what has been a troubled year for the Serpentine. [...] After almost 20 years of commissioning novelty structures to host summer parties for sponsors, it feels like the format could do with a rethink and look beyond the bounds of the gallery’s garden, and the collectors’ estates where the structures end up. — Oliver Wainwright, The Guardian
A few days before the opening of the 2019 Serpentine Pavilion, Oliver Wainwright of The Guardian wrote a piece calling for the Serpentine Galleries to consider rethinking the format of the yearly Serpentine Pavilion program (like appointing the architects earlier, for starters). It's been a rough... View full entry
A flowing canopy roof of slates has emerged in recent weeks in the pristine gardens of London's Serpentine Galleries. Supported by a forest of superslim columns, the cavernous space will begin welcoming guests this week as the galleries' 2019 Serpentine Pavilion, designed by Japanese architect... View full entry
A lecture at MIT that was to be given by the Japanese architect Junya Ishigami has been cancelled following revelations that Ishigami's Tokyo-based studio was relying on unpaid interns—a controversy that has prompted wide discussion and raised questions over the value of labor in architecture. ... View full entry
After a successful run in London's Hyde Park back in 2015, SelgasCano's' rainbow-tunnel Serpentine Pavilion is making its way to the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles starting June 28. London-based Second Home teamed up with the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County to bring out the... View full entry
A few weeks after being commissioned to design the 2019 Serpentine Pavilion, Junya Ishigami + Associates and the Serpentine Galleries are now under fire after it emerged that the big-name firm uses unpaid interns in Japan, the Architects' Journal reported today. An email sent by Junya Ishigami... View full entry
Japanese architect Junya Ishigami, known for his experimental works that blend nature and fantasy, has been tapped by the Serpentine Gallery to design their popular summer attraction, the Serpentine Pavilion. The highly sought-after commission follows the success of previous iterations by rising... View full entry
[...] the 2016 Unzipped pavilion by the Danish architect Bjarke Ingels was acquired by a wealthy collector: the Canadian developer Ian Gillespie, whose company Westbank was a sponsor of the London presentation. Last month, the shape-shifting 14-metre-high, 27-metre-long installation made the move to inner city Toronto, where it was unveiled on the site of the architect’s next commission for Westbank, a massively ambitious housing complex on King Street West. — The Art Newspaper
Another member of the growing family of the Serpentine Galleries' annual summer pavilions has found a new home: the Bjarke Ingels-designed Unzipped pavilion — famously praised by The Guardian's architecture critic Oliver Wainwright as "possibly the Serpentine’s most impressive pavilion... View full entry
The [pavilion] will now be displayed in ‘selected locations’ as part of the Therme Art Program, which was set up to fulfill artistic and architectural ’visions that cannot be realised in galleries or museum spaces: no matter how complex their production, installation and long-term maintenance may be’. Serpentine Galleries chief executive Yana Peel and artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist said in a joint statement that they were ‘delighted’ by the purchase. — The Architects' Journal
In an interview with the Guardian earlier this month, Mexican architect, and this year's designer of the 2018 Serpentine Pavilion, Frida Escobedo told Rowan Moore her focus for the commission was on “how you feel inside the space, how you go about it in the moment.” Opening this Friday on... View full entry
Escobedo’s approach is, she says, not about the look of the architectural object, but “how you feel inside the space, how you go about it in the moment”. It is designed for the “very specific space and time” of the Serpentine’s lawn in summer, but is also for the future in which, like previous pavilions, it will be sold to private collectors. Since “we don’t know where it’s going”, the design “can absorb locality no matter where it is”. — The Guardian
In this piece for The Guardian, Rowan Moore speaks with 39-year-old Mexican architect Frida Escobedo about her Serpentine Pavilion, an “intimate public courtyard” that will open in London this month. Escobedo talks about her start in architecture, Mexican modernism, and the “always... View full entry
The first Serpentine Pavilion co-commissioned and built outside the UK has opened its figurative doors in Beijing this week. Designed by JIAKUN Architects, the temporary structure is the result of a collaboration between London's Serpentine Galleries and WF CENTRAL in Beijing. First renderings... View full entry
Construction is now underway for the 2018 Serpentine Pavilion, which is scheduled to open in June in time for summer outdoor festivities at the Serpentine Galleries in London. Mexican architect Frida Escobedo — who was commissioned to design the 2018 pavilion in February — is working... View full entry
London-based Serpentine Galleries are branching out to China and will be opening the inaugural Serpentine Pavilion Beijing this May. Announced as a collaboration with WF CENTRAL from Beijing, the new pavilion will be designed by JIAKUN Architects in the city's historic Dongcheng District, only a... View full entry
The Serpentine Pavilion 2017, designed this year by Germany-based architect Francis Kere, will be moved to Malaysia by early next year.
“Thanks to the generous donations by a group of philanthropists, Ilham Gallery now has a prestigious architectural commission in its collection.
“It was a surprising yet very welcome bit of news to be the new custodian of this exciting work,” said Ilham Gallery director Rahel Joseph.
— The Star Online
In an exciting and unexpected outcome, Francis Kere's serpentine pavilion will be given renewed life with a permanent move to Kuala Lumpur next year. With the final site still unknown, the transition was made possible by a plethora of donations and support. The short shelf life and physical... View full entry
