Diébédo Francis Kéré's Serpentine Pavilion will relocate to Malaysia
30/12/2017.
[LON] UK
metalocus, TEODORO GONZÁLEZ
metalocus, TEODORO GONZÁLEZ
"Thanks to the generous donations by a group of philanthropists, Ilham Gallery now has a prestigious architectural commission in its collection. It was a surprising yet very welcome bit of news to be the new custodian of this exciting work," said Ilham Gallery director Rahel Joseph.
"Its too large for Ilham and we want to put it in a public space for all to enjoy. We are looking for a space for it in the Klang Valley," added Joseph.
The pavilion follows the tradition of Serpentine Pavilions finding new homes across the globe. Last year’s structure, designed by BIG, has been relocated to Vancouver. Other examples include Zaha Hadid’s 2007 design, re-erected at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, England, and Toyo Ito / Cecil Balmond’s 2002 pavilion, which now serves as a beachside restaurant at the luxury hotel Le Beauvallon on the Côte d’Azur in France. Other pavilions have also been purchased by private owners.
Diébédo Francis Kéré (b.1965, in Gando, Burkina Faso, west Africa) trained at the Technical University of Berlin in Germany, started his Berlin based practice, Kéré Architecture, in 2005. Kéré Architecture has been recognised nationally and internationally with awards, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2004) for his first building, a primary school in Gando, Burkina Faso; LOCUS Global Award for Sustainable Architecture (2009); Global Holcim Award Gold (2011 and 2012); Green Planet Architects Award (2013); Schelling Architecture Foundation Award (2014); and the Kenneth Hudson Award –European Museum of the Year (2015).
Projects undertaken by Francis Kéré span countries, including Burkina Faso,Mali, China, Mozambique, Kenya, Togo, Sudan, Germany and Switzerland. He has taught internationally, including the Technical University of Berlin, and he has held professorships at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and Accademia di Architettura di Mendriso in Switzerland.
Kéré’s work has recently been the subject of solo exhibitions: Radically Simple at the Architecture Museum, Munich (2016) and The Architecture of Francis Kéré: Building for Community, Philadelphia Museum of Art (2016). His work has also been selected for group exhibitions: Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2010) and Sensing Spaces, Royal Academy, London (2014).
Among his main works are the Primary School (2001) and the Library (under construction) of Gando, Burkina Faso; the Health and Social Promotion Center (2014) and the Opera Village (under construction), both in Laongo, Burkina Faso; the Satellite of the Volksbühne Theater at the Tempelhof Airport, in Berlin (temporary installation, 2016); or the Pavilion for the Serpentine Gallery of the year 2017.