The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009 by SANAA
A good architecture must serve as a bridge connecting us with people and environment. As more and more brutal and arrogant architecture rising everywhere, the Japanese Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA has come to the international design scene with a new calm, cool and collected architecture bringing human and nature together.
The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009, designed by Sejima and Nishizawa, “resembles a reflective cloud or a floating pool of water, sitting atop a series of delicate columns. The metal roof structure varies in height, wrapping itself around the trees in the park, reaching up towards the sky and sweeping down almost to the ground in various places. Open and ephemeral in structure, its reflective materials make it sit seamlessly within the natural environment, reflecting both the park and sky around it.”
Describing their structure the architects say: “The Pavilion is floating aluminium, drifting freely between the trees like smoke. The reflective canopy undulates across the site, expanding the park and sky. Its appearance changes according to the weather, allowing it to melt into the surroundings. It works as a field of activity with no walls, allowing uninterrupted view across the park and encouraging access from all sides. It is a sheltered extension of the park where people can read, relax and enjoy lovely summer days.”
A simple and thoughtful architecture has won people over by humbly and harmoniously blending itself into nature, maximizing its presence and function without exhausting resources and obstructing flows of activities and energy. Superficially and substantially, the Pavilion is an excellent example of unselfish and considerate architecture for the future.
The Ecosophic Turn 