This year, the Serpentine Pavilion celebrates its 25th anniversary. The past quarter of a century has seen the annual architectural installation become one of the most highly anticipated moments in the artistic calendar. It’s a vital and powerful platform for emerging talents. Bettina Korek, Chief Executive, says: “For 25 years, the Serpentine Pavilion has been a leading global platform for architectural experimentation – first inviting internationally significant architects yet to build in London, and later championing emerging voices. It offers a rare brief: to test ambitious ideas in an open, accessible setting.”
The latest studio to take on this monumental task is LANZA atelier, founded by Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo. Their Pavilion, titled a serpentine, will be unveiled to the public at Serpentine South on 6th June. The Mexico City-based architecture studio grounds their collaborative practice in the everyday, attentive to how technology, craft and spatial intelligence emerge in unexpected conditions. Their work locates beauty in use, assembly and encounter, foregrounding dialogue and collective experience. The duo places particular emphasis on hands-on design methods such as drawing and model-making, treating these as active tools for thinking through material, form and structure. Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director at Serpentine, adds: “LANZA atelier’s architecture always involves a deep engagement with the local context, materials and lived experience. In their own words, they create contemporary spaces whose energy can last. Their spaces invite people to imagine a more connected, compassionate and creative future.”
LANZA atelier took inspiration from the English architecture feature known as a “serpentine” or “crinkle-crankle” wall. This type of brick partition, composed of alternating curves, originated in ancient Egypt and was later introduced to England by Dutch engineers. Its curvilinear form provides stability, whilst requiring fewer bricks than a typical wall. The eponymous feature also subtly nods to the nearby Serpentine lake, named for its gentle curvature, evoking the form of a serpent. A second wall works in dialogue with the surrounding landscape, remaining in harmony with the tree canopy without disrupting it. A translucent roof rests lightly on brick columns, evoking a grove of trees. This configuration allows light and air to permeate the space, softening the boundary between enclosure and openness. The architects describe how “the project takes the form of a serpentine wall, conceived as a device that both reveals and withholds: shaping movement, modulating rhythm and framing thresholds of proximity, orientation, and pause.”
They join an exclusive and illustrious list of those who have contributed to the Serpentine Pavilion. Names include Sou Fujimoto’s 2013 design, constructed from 20mm white steel poles in an intricate latticework pattern that seemed to rise up out of the ground like a shimmering matrix. Iconic studio Herzog & De Meuron joined forces with artist Ai WeiWei, to honour the 11 practitioners who had come before. Meanwhile, the 2008 structure was the first built project in England by legendary architect Frank Gehry.
One key figure in the history of the Serpentine Pavilion is Zaha Hadid, who designed the very first installation in 2000. In 2026, Serpentine will collaborate with the Zaha Hadid Foundation to commemorate her legacy and explore her groundbreaking contribution to the field, whilst connecting new and wider audiences with innovative architectural conversations. Hadid’s spirit of innovation, established with the inaugural Serpentine Pavilion in 2000, has set the tone for what has since become one of the world’s most influential architectural commissions. Hadid gave this enduring project the motto of “there should be no end to experimentation.” Twenty-five years on, Serpentine continues to embody the spirit of innovation.
Serpentine Pavilion 2026 opens at Serpentine South on 6th June: serpentinegalleries.org
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
Serpentine Pavilion 2026 a serpentine, designed by Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo, LANZA atelier. Design render, aerial view. © LANZA atelier. Courtesy Serpentine.
