This year’s Serpentine Pavilion in London’s Hyde Park is designed by up-and-coming Spanish architects José Selgas and Lucía Cano. It follows the footsteps of last year’s less known architect Smiljan Radić. Both works are much more experimental than previous pavilions of well known architects, and the material use plays an important part in the design.
I chose the perfect day to visit the pavilion. It is designed for a sunny weather, without it I assume that the experience is not as good. The major attraction of the building is to experience the candy colour fusion light effects created by rays of sunlight shining through the uniquely designed opaque and translucent fluorine-based plastic walls. ETFE is a super-thin, ultra-light plastic material.
As a material & colour enthusiast my expectations were high and I wasn’t disappointed. The feeling created by the unique combination of light and colours is very uplifting.
The colours are quite strong and fluorescent. They created an oil in water effects on the plastic surfaces.
Second Home co-working space also designed by José Selgas and Lucía Cano is very successful in using colour and transparency to create warm and energetic environment. Utilising colour effects on changing the mood of the space is a growing trend.
This year’s pavilion has been criticised for being too awkward, just for kids and not sophisticated enough e.g. using masking tape type of semi-transparent material, but personally I thought that the space worked well. On a sunny day, the immersive experience from colours and light overshadowed any imperfections in the design.
Anyway, who wants to visit a summer pavilion on a rainy day?
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