SERPENTINE

 PAVILION    Toyo  Ito,  2002  

 DESCRIPTION  
•  Architect:  Toyo  Ito  (Japanese)  

•  Engineer:  Cecil  Balmond,  Arup  

 
•  Year  completed:  2002  

•  Concept:  three-­‐dimensional  
façade  without  columns  

•  60m  x  60m  x  5.3m  

•  Floor  area:  309.76  sqm  

•  It  was  one  of  the  annual  

temporary  pavilions  sponsored  
in  Kensington  Gardens,  
London,  for  a  3  month  period  
during  summer.  

•  The  experimental  structures  

are  used  for  events  by  the  
SerpenTne  Gallery.  
 POLITICALLY  
 
•  The  annual  commission  was  intended  as  a  
global  plaUorm  for  experimental  projects  
by  some  of  the  world's  greatest  architects  
since  its  beginning  in  2000.  
 
•  The  architect  is  chosen  by  the  gallery  
director.  

•  They  became  part  of  the  summer  season,  

“like  Henley  or  Cowes  with  a  radical  
edge.”  The  Pavilion  is  located  in  a  Royal  
Park,  near  Kensington  Palace.  

•  They  were  iniTated  at  a  Tme  of  a  building  

boom,  but  most  of  the  architects  received  
a  commission  in  London.  
 
•  In  a  way  they  became  a  record  of  the  
failure  of  the  program  to  promote  radical  
architecture  in  the  city,  while  appearing  
as  if  the  city  loved  it.  
 ECONOMICALLY  
•  The  Client:  SerpenTne  Gallery  Trust  

•  Budget  £1  million  

•  The  SerpenTne  receives  14%  of  its  annual  

operaTng  income  from  Arts  Council  England.  
It  also  receives  funds  from  The  Baring  
FoundaTon,  Outset  Contemporary  Art  Fund,  
Heritage  Locery  Fund,  and  the  Ernest  Cook  
Trust.  

•  The  SerpenTne  Gallery  director,  Julia  

Peyton-­‐Jones,  asked  Toyo  Ito  to  design  their  
3rd  pavilion,  ader  Zaha  Hadid  and  Daniel  
William  Hare  was  invited  to  be  one   Liebeskind.  
of  the  sponsors  for  the  pavilion  and  
agreed  to  undertake  the   •  Each  pavilion  is  financed  through  its  sale  or  
manufacture  and  site  erecTon  of   presale  (up  to  40  percent  of  the  cost),  and  
the  structure.   through  donaTons  and  corporate  
sponsorships.  

•  The  pavilions  welcomes  as  many  as  300,000  

visitors  a  year.  It’s  “a  promoTon  of  
contemporary  architecture,  but  also  in  good  
part  of  the  SerpenTne  itself.”  
 SOCIALLY  
•  The  pavilion  was  a  pure  structure.  It  had  
no  plumbing,  doors  etc.  It  was  like  a  folly  
in  the  park,  inviTng  people  in  because  it  
had  no  doors  but  did  have  an  entrance  on  
each  side  of  the  perfect  cube.  
 
•  Refreshments  were  sold  inside,  so  you  
could  sit  at  a  table  and  enjoy  a  snack  or  a  
drink  with  a  friend  while  enjoying  the  
architecture.  
 
•  Its  locaTon  in  the  public  park  meant  that  
people  who  had  gone  to  the  park  to  relax  
could  stop  in  if  they  wanted  to.  There  was  
no  admicance  fee.  
 
•  Events  such  as  music  or  discussion  were  
held  in  the  pavilion  to  draw  in  the  public.  
 
•  Considered  the  “most  saTsfying  of  
SerpenTne  pavilions”  by  The  Guardian  
newspaper.  
 TECHNOLOGICALLY  
•  Ader  Ito  had  tried  to  generate  random  lines  
for  the  pavilion,  Balmond  said,  “No,  let’s  go  
into  certain  rules.”  and  developed  a  
structural  interpretaTon  from  an  loophole  
effect  algorithm  based  on  a  spiraling  square.    
 
•  The  lines  are  then  extended  and  folded  
around  the  cube  creaTng  a  3D  mesh.  The  
structural  frame  is  derived  from  the  
intersecTon  of  the  lines  and  is  made  from  
flat  steel  welded  or  bolted  together  to  create  
depth.  
 
•  The  areas  between  the  structure  are  infilled  
with  white  aluminum  or  glass.  

•  Balmond:  “When  you  try  to  be  surprising  by  

intuiTon  it  is  not  as  surprising  as  the  answer  
from  an  algorithm.  So,  the  belief  I  have  is,  
that  an  algorithm  to  a  rule  would  produce  a  
more  interesTng  configuraTon  than  if  you  
would  do  it  by  memory.  “  

•  Fabricated  offsite  then  assembled  onsite.  

 ENVIRONMENTALLY  

•  The  pavilion  had  4  entrances  but  no  doors,  

which  provided  natural  venTlaTon.  It  was  very  
pleasant  during  the  London  summer.  

•  It  was  later  taken  apart,  sold,  and  moved  to  Le  

Beauvallon,  a  hotel  in  the  south  of  France  
where  it  now  serves  as  the  beach  club  
restaurant  overlooking  St  Tropez.  
 
REFERENCES  
hcp://chasemitchelljordan.com/structural-­‐analysis-­‐toyo-­‐itos-­‐serpenTne-­‐pavilion/  
hcps://www.archdaily.com/344319/serpenTne-­‐gallery-­‐pavilion-­‐2002-­‐toyo-­‐ito-­‐cecil-­‐balmond-­‐arup  
hcps://www.dezeen.com/2015/09/03/movie-­‐serpenTne-­‐gallery-­‐pavilion-­‐2002-­‐toyo-­‐ito-­‐cecil-­‐balmond-­‐arup-­‐
julia-­‐peyton-­‐jones/  
hcps://www.serpenTnegalleries.org/explore/pavilion  
hcps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/may/23/serpenTne-­‐pavilions-­‐ten-­‐years-­‐on  
hcps://www.nyTmes.com/2015/06/26/arts/internaTonal/dreams-­‐in-­‐plasTc-­‐and-­‐canvas-­‐at-­‐the-­‐serpenTne-­‐
gallery-­‐in-­‐london.html  
hcp://www.newsteelconstrucTon.com/wp/serpenTne-­‐pavilion/  
hcps://inspiraTon.detail.de/temporary-­‐pavilion-­‐in-­‐london-­‐106495.html?lang=en