A 'Tree of Encounters': The Quiet Radicalism of Serpentine’s 25th Pavilion
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- 4 min read
Eliza Pritchett
Now in its 25th edition, LANZA atelier's Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo design a humbly impressive pavilion for Hyde Park's Serpentine Gallery.
After a quarter-century of increasingly complex temporary structures, the most significant milestone in Serpentine history is also its least flashy. a serpentine, the 2026 pavilion designed by International Design Studio LANZA Atelier arrives as a quiet, deliberate rebellion against 21st-century design.
At the Serpentine South Gallery, it became immediately clear that LANZA is drawing on a growing exhaustion with the superficial “Instagram aesthetic” that has dominated the past decade of design. The art climate in 2026 is experiencing a shift towards raw realism; artists and designers are moving away from slick, high-tech looks and returning to earth. In the case of a serpentine, this translates to a humble medium: handmade Sienna clay brick. Open to the public from June 6th to 25th October 2026, this installation belongs to one of the top ten most visited architectural exhibitions in the world, yet it rejects the need to shout for attention.
LANZA co-founder Isabel Abascal told The Courtauldian, ‘What’s most special today is the joy of seeing our pavilion inhabited by people.’ As I watched the guests freely roam around, navigate the space, gather in spontaneous clusters, the architecture felt joyfully unperformed. I found it to be a refreshing cultural shock in an otherwise overwhelming digital landscape of spectacle.
The restraint of this design sharply contrasts the weight of the programme’s history. What began accidentally in the year 2000 with a one off temporary design by Zaha Hadid has evolved into an annual summer programme for global experimentation. The baseline brief has always been to experiment with raw space, structural physics, and new materials to alter the human sensory experience without the constraints of permanent practical functions, allowing architecture to operate purely as fine art. In recent years, architects have answered this by pushing physics to its limits. Minsuk Cho’s visually sprawling playground Archipelagic Void in 2024, and the heavy, towering cylindrical structure of the Black Chapel in 2022 exemplify this. Over the last decade, the serpentine lawn has hosted an array of complex structures. LANZA Atelier feels less like an escalation, and more of a quiet pallet cleanser. Instead of altering human experience through visual shock, they use ancient structural form to ground us, forcing us to slow down and use all of our senses.
The entire pavilion is built around a winding ‘crinkle-crankle’ wall composed of roughly 30,000 bricks. This curvilinear, literally serpentine layout reinterprets a traditional historic English form, popularised in Suffolk, dating back to Ancient Egypt, and utilised during the 18th Century UK Brick Tax to save material. While a straight wall requires two layers of masonry and additional supports, a crinkle-crankle wall stays upright using a single brick width, with its alternating curves granting it strength. LANZA has taken something ordinary and historical, turning it into efficient contemporary engineering. This feature subtly links to the nearby Serpentine Lake, dividing the pavilion into two distinct spaces: The South Wall and The North Wall.
By allowing people and Hyde Park to be glimpsed through the gaps, LANZA challenges the idea of a wall being a barrier of division, converting it into a device for collective gathering. The local Sienna bricks create an instant, harmonious dialogue with the 1934 brick facade of the existing Serpentine South building behind, a former tea pavilion in the 18th Century. Above, a translucent roof rests lightly on open brick columns, evoking the sensation of sitting in a sunlit open grove, where the wind can be felt directly. You cannot feel a shifting breeze or touch the rough imperfections of clay through a camera screen, as LANZA successfully subverts Instagram culture by demanding physical presence.
For an art historian, a striking tension exists subtly within the walls. The Serpentine Galleries are celebrated for their free public access, but as a registered charity, the Arts Council only foots a fraction of the bill. This quiet, raw sanctuary of human connection is entirely enabled by the Luxury Giants of Goldman Sachs and Rolex. It’s a delicate paradox, the space rejecting 21st century flash yet funded entirely through high-capitalist institutions.
Ultimately, this 25th anniversary occasion has forced the institution to look back at its trajectory. Reflecting on this milestone, Serpentine Artistic Director Hans Ulrich Obrist said that LANZA’s design creates a ‘tree of encounters,’ contributing to the beauty of the world through open, context driven connections. Obrist told The Courtauldian LANZA Atelier was the right choice for this 25th anniversary because its design focuses on openness, community and connection, mirroring the Serpentines Values. Speaking directly to LANZA Atelier’s co-founder Isabel, she highlighted the limited edition mobile furniture designed to shift, cluster and adapt. This makes the architecture a collective experience, as the interior contains no fixed routes; the physical pavilion itself is the artwork.
As the pavilion prepares to host its summer calendar of live art, music and debate, it honours Zaha Hadid’s legendary quote that ‘there is no end to experimentation.’ LANZA Atelier proves that cutting edge architecture doesn't need to look futuristic. By choosing an ancient, simple idea over a flashy gesture, they offer a beautiful precedent for the next quarter-century of design, a future that prioritises genuine human experience over temporary visual shock.
a serpentine continues until 25 October.
