sou fujimoto to design cloud-like 2013 serpentine pavilion
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first image
'2013 serpentine pavilion' by sou fujimoto, london, england
image © sou fujimoto
the prestigious temporary serpentine pavilion in london's kensignton gardens will be designed in 2013 by japanese architect sou fujimoto, the youngest designer
in history to take part in the three month installation. the transparent irregular cloud structure will take up approximately 350 square meters with a
delicate metal lattice structure made of 20 mm pipes that will create an interactive architectural landscape. hosting a variety of events, the pavilion will
be deeply embedded contextually into the site as well as into its social facets, resulting in an engaging structure that almost floats above and around its
visitors.
architect sou fujimoto explains his concept:
'for the 2013 pavilion I propose an architectural landscape: a transparent terrain that encourages people to interact with and explore the site in diverse ways.
within the pastoral context of kensingtongardens, I envisage the vivid greenery of the surrounding plant life woven together with a constructed geometry.
a new form of environment will be created, where the natural and the man-made merge; not solely architectural nor solely natural, but a unique meeting of the two.
the pavilion will be a delicate, three-dimensional structure, each unit of which will be composed of fine steel bars. it will form a semi-transparent, irregular ring,
simultaneously protecting visitors from the elements while allowing them to remain part of the landscape. the overall footprint will be 350 square-metres and
the pavilion will have two entrances. a series of stepped terraces will provide seating areas that will allow the pavilion to be used as a flexible, multi-purpose social space.
the delicate quality of the structure, enhanced by its semi-transparency, will create a geometric, cloud-like form, as if it were mist rising from the undulations of the park.
from certain vantage points, the pavilion will appear to merge with the classical structure of the serpentine gallery, with visitors suspended in space.'
interior
image © sou fujimoto
interior is protected from the elements while providing a feeling of being part of the landscape
image © sou fujimoto
made up of a regular 3D grid of slender metal tubes creates varying levels of transparency
image © sou fujimoto
image © sou fujimoto
can’t wait to see the finished pavilion
Judging from the images and text provided here, this proposal lacks integrity. The canopy does not seem to make use of the structural strength of steel in an interesting way, most of it is merely decorative and given a dubious epithet. If a soft or fibrous material was used, at least “the cloud” could be inhabited without the risk of getting pierced. And aren’t pavilions supposed to provide protection from sun, wind and rain? This design manages to use a maximum amount of material to provide a minimum of protection. Finally I don’t see the poetic dimension that could balance the above issues. But that’s a matter of taste I guess.
Sou Fujimoto is acknowledged for this kind of style. I personally would like to say it as “cubical space”, where space are made of simple connecting line and often very basic cube mass. Structurally, it’s almost just barely steel connected to another steel. But, these steels (hard) are then transformed poetically into some philosophical concept of nature (soft). So he would like to interpret that something hard could be recognized as soft. I guess it’s matter of taste.
Most of his works are exposing people to the nature and bring them back to its nature state.. This could be seen in “Wooden House” and “Tree House”. Some people would like to consider it as uncomfortable, but others would like to think this as fresh design.
Thanks for the lecture @bjRBK but I know Mr Fujimoto’s work very well. Unfortunately this proposal (and others he has published recently) indicate stagnation. There is nothing wrong with the concept of trying to make something hard seem soft, the crux is in the way the idea is then translated into a design. This one does so with a conspicuous lack of sophistication.