Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond
05/10/2018.
[LON] UK
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
Rem Koolhaas in collaboration with Cecil Balmond designed the Pavilion of the Serpentine Gallery of the year 2006. It was a structure of translucent material on which an inflatable with the shape of an ovoid was raised.
Exterior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph © 2006 John Offenbach
Perimeter view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph © 2006 John Offenbach
Interior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph © 2006 John Offenbach
Mobile units. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph © 2006 John Offenbach
Exterior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph © José Juan Barba
Exterior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph © José Juan Barba
Exterior view from access. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph © José Juan Barba
Serpentine Gallery view from interior of pavilion. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph © José Juan Barba
Interior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph © José Juan Barba
Interior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph © José Juan Barba
Interior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph by Iwan Baan
Interior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph by Iwan Baan
Interior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph by Clement Blanchet / OMA
Interior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph by Clement Blanchet / OMA
Interior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph by Clement Blanchet / OMA
Interior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph by Clement Blanchet / OMA
Interior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph by Clement Blanchet / OMA
Interior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph by Clement Blanchet / OMA
Exterior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph by Clement Blanchet / OMA
Exterior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph by Clement Blanchet / OMA
Exterior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph by José Juan Barba
Exterior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph by Clement Blanchet / OMA
Night view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph by Clement Blanchet / OMA
Night exterior view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph © 2006 John Offenbach
Night view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph by Clement Blanchet / OMA
Night view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph by Clement Blanchet / OMA
Night view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph by Clement Blanchet / OMA
Night view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Photograph by Clement Blanchet / OMA
Vista del montaje. Pabellón para la Serpentine Gallery 2006 por Rem Koolhaas y Cecil Balmond. Fotografía cortesía de OMA
Vista del montaje. Pabellón para la Serpentine Gallery 2006 por Rem Koolhaas y Cecil Balmond. Fotografía cortesía de OMA
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Courtesy of Cecil Balmond
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Courtesy of OMA
Sketch by Rem Koolhaas. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Courtesy of OMA
Computer graphics. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Courtesy of OMA
Computer graphics. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Courtesy of OMA
Computer graphics. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Courtesy of OMA
Ground floor plan. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Courtesy of OMA
Sections. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Courtesy of OMA
Isometric view. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Courtesy of OMA
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond. Courtesy of OMA
The Pavilion of the Serpentine Gallery was designed to host multiple functions, from cafeteria to auditorium, even the furniture was designed to move and change position. The materials that compose it are mainly galvanized steel for the structure and PVC for the cover.
It was one of the best pavilions carried out among all the proposals made for the Serpentine Gallery, a true pavilion or summer folie in the gardens of Hyde Park. Brilliant, smart, and the reflection of a daydream, about the pavilion, on issue 19 of METALOCUS, I wrote, below:
It was one of the best pavilions carried out among all the proposals made for the Serpentine Gallery, a true pavilion or summer folie in the gardens of Hyde Park. Brilliant, smart, and the reflection of a daydream, about the pavilion, on issue 19 of METALOCUS, I wrote, below:
The Pavilion covered an area of 346 square meters and was comprised three main structural elements:
1. A floor platform was extended from the east side of the Gallery across the lawn, ending at the cross path at a height of one meter where a set of stairs brought visitors back to ground level. The platform was 10 meters width, which directly related to to the width of the Serpentine's North Gallery. Constructed from lightweight steel structural beams, creating a frame to support a floor surface of perforated metal sheets. Both elements were galvanized. The central area within the walled structured a number of mobile seating/table units, which could be arranged by the visitor during the day for eating, drinking or watching footage of previous talks and activities. The units could be moved to form a more formal seating arrangement when the space was used for talks and film screenings.
2. Where the floor platforms was widened, a circular enclosure was created by fixing a series of translucent polycarbonate wall panels to the perimeter. This wall was 5 meters in height. An inner circular wall constructed from the same material was set inside the outer wall, with a space of 1.6 metres between the two. These two walls were held in position by a series of tensioned steel cables.
3. The Pavilion design incorporated a helium and air filled inflatable roof that could be raised and lowered to accommodate the activities within the structure. It provided protection from the weather - shade at the height of summer and rain and wind cover in the autumn. The inflatable roof was ovoid in shape and extended to a maximum height of 24 meters when opened. In the closed position the height was 20 metres. Although higher than the Gallery building, it was not higher than some of the trees surrounding. The roof was fabricated from semi-clear PVC-coated polyester. The base of the 5 inflatable was hollowed out to produce a cubic void 10 metres by 10 metres by four metres high. The inflatable roof was held securely in position by cables attached to four electrical winches, which in turn were anchored to the ground.
The Pavilion was constructed after the putting on hold of the initial offer by MVRDV, who received strong criticism from the London press for a certain degree of deification in their project.
1. A floor platform was extended from the east side of the Gallery across the lawn, ending at the cross path at a height of one meter where a set of stairs brought visitors back to ground level. The platform was 10 meters width, which directly related to to the width of the Serpentine's North Gallery. Constructed from lightweight steel structural beams, creating a frame to support a floor surface of perforated metal sheets. Both elements were galvanized. The central area within the walled structured a number of mobile seating/table units, which could be arranged by the visitor during the day for eating, drinking or watching footage of previous talks and activities. The units could be moved to form a more formal seating arrangement when the space was used for talks and film screenings.
2. Where the floor platforms was widened, a circular enclosure was created by fixing a series of translucent polycarbonate wall panels to the perimeter. This wall was 5 meters in height. An inner circular wall constructed from the same material was set inside the outer wall, with a space of 1.6 metres between the two. These two walls were held in position by a series of tensioned steel cables.
3. The Pavilion design incorporated a helium and air filled inflatable roof that could be raised and lowered to accommodate the activities within the structure. It provided protection from the weather - shade at the height of summer and rain and wind cover in the autumn. The inflatable roof was ovoid in shape and extended to a maximum height of 24 meters when opened. In the closed position the height was 20 metres. Although higher than the Gallery building, it was not higher than some of the trees surrounding. The roof was fabricated from semi-clear PVC-coated polyester. The base of the 5 inflatable was hollowed out to produce a cubic void 10 metres by 10 metres by four metres high. The inflatable roof was held securely in position by cables attached to four electrical winches, which in turn were anchored to the ground.
The Pavilion was constructed after the putting on hold of the initial offer by MVRDV, who received strong criticism from the London press for a certain degree of deification in their project.
by José Juan Barba
Description of project by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond
The Serpentine Pavilion 2006 is co-designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Rem Koolhaas and structural designer Cecil Balmond. The centrepiece of the design is a spectacular ovoid-shaped inflatable canopy that floats above the Serpentine's lawn. Made from translucent material, the structure is illuminated from within at night. The canopy will be raised into the air or lowered to cover the amphitheatre below according to the weather.
The walled enclosure below the canopy functions both as a café and forum for daily televised and recorded public programmes including live talks and film screenings in the Time Out Park Nights at the Serpentine Gallery programme. Highlights include two 24-hour interview marathons (convened by Koolhaas and Hans Ulrich Obrist) with leading politicians, architects, philosophers, writers, artists, film-makers and economists exposing the hidden and invisible layers of London.
A major exhibition of works by the German artist, Thomas Demand, was shown at the Serpentine during this period. Demand developed work to be included in the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006.
Rem Koolhaas said: "The 2006 Serpentine Pavilion will be defined by events and activities. We are proposing a space that facilitates the inclusion of individuals in communal dialogue and shared experience."
Cecil Balmond said: "These Pavilions have evolved with various structural typologies and materials, provoking a debate on architecture; this year the exploration continues not only with typology and material but with the very definition of Pavilion."
Each Summer, the Serpentine commissions an internationally acclaimed architect to design a temporary Pavilion for its lawn. The programme is unique worldwide. Conceived by Julia Peyton-Jones, Director, Serpentine Gallery, the project represents a rare opportunity for architects to create a more experimental structure in the United Kingdom, where none of those invited has ever built before. Those selected previously are Zaha Hadid, 2000, Daniel Libeskind with Arup, 2001, Toyo Ito with Arup, 2002, Oscar Niemeyer, 2003, MVRDV, 2004 (unrealised) and Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura with Cecil Balmond – Arup, 2005.
More information
Architect-author
Rem Koolhaas
Project architect
Clement Blanchet
Team
Adam Furman, Karel Wuytack, Karen Crequer
Collaborators
Integrated Design.-Arup; Principal in Charge.- Cecil Balmond; Team.- Chris Carroll, Carolina Bartram, Tristan Simmonds, Steve Walker, Andrew Grant, Anthony Ferguson, Phil Greenup; Project Advisors.- Lord Palumbo, Serpentine Board of Trustees; Zaha Hadid, Serpentine Board of Trustees; Peter Rogers, Stanhope Plc; Mark Camley, Royal Parks Agency; Project Directors.- Julia Peyton-Jones, Director, Serpentine Gallery and Co-Director, Exhibitions and Programmes; Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-Director, Exhibitions and Programmes and Director of International Priojects; Project Manager.- Mark Robinson; Project Organiser.- Kathryn Rattee, Serpentine Gallery; Planning and Building Control.- City of Westminster Planning and Transportation Department; Quantity Surveyors.- Davis Langdon Management; Town Planning Consultants DP9; Construction Management.- Bovis Lend Lease; Planning Supervisor.- Bovis Lend Lease; Sale.- Knight Frank; Ground Works and Site Facilities.- John Doyle Group; GTL Partnership Ltd; SES Ltd; Flooring System.- FH Brundle; Sheetfabs; 13; Polycarbonate Wall System.- Bay Plastics Ltd; Sheetfabs; Inflatable Structure.- Hightex with Tensys; Structural Steel.- William Hare; Lighting Installation.- T Clarke; Lighting Supply.- Siteco; AV Consultant.- Mark Johnson Consultants Ltd; Security.- Clipfine; Dismantling and Refurbishment.- Keltbray
Dates
Date: 13 July – 15 October 2006 Construction period: 8 May 2006 – 4 July 2006
Areas
Overall Site area: 650 sqm Footprint of Pavilion: 346 sqm Maximum height of inflated membrane: 24m
REM KOOLHAAS
Rem Koolhaas was born in Rotterdam in 1944. He began his career as a journalist, working for the Haagse Post, and as a set-designer in the Netherlands and Hollywood. He beganHe frequented the Architectural Association School in London and studied with Oswald Mathias Ungers at Cornell University. In 1978, he wrote Delirious New York: a retroactive manifesto for Manhattan, which has become a classic of contemporary architectural theory. In 1975 – together with Elia and Zoe Zenghelis and Madelon Vriesendorp – he founded OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture).
The most important works by Koolhaas and OMA, from its foundation until the mid-1990s, include the Netherlands Dance Theatre at The Hague, the Nexus Housing at Fukuoka in Japan, the Kunsthal in Rotterdam, the Grand Palais of Euralille and Lille, the Villa dall’Ava, the Très Grande Bibliothèque, the Jussieu library in Paris, the ZKM in Karlsruhe and the Seattle Public Library.
Together with Koolhaas’s reflections on contemporary society, these buildings appear in his second book, S,M,L,XL (1995), a volume of 1376 pages written as though it were a “novel about architecture”. Published in collaboration with the Canadian graphic designer, Bruce Mau, the book contains essays, manifestos, cartoons and travel diaries.
In 2005, with Mark Wigley and Ole Bouman, he was the founder to the prestigious Volume magazine, the result of a collaboration with Archis (Amsterdam), AMO and C-lab (Columbia University NY).
His built work includes the Qatar National Library and the Qatar Foundation Headquarters (2018), Fondation Galeries Lafayette in Paris (2018), Fondazione Prada in Milan (2015/2018), Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow (2015), the headquarters for China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing (2012), Casa da Musica in Porto (2005), Seattle Central Library (2004), and the Netherlands Embassy in Berlin (2003). Current projects include the Taipei Performing Arts Centre, a new building for Axel Springer in Berlin, and the Factory in Manchester.
Koolhaas directed the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale and is a professor at Harvard University, where he directs The Project on the City, a research programme on changes in urban conditions around the world. This programme has conducted research on the delta of the Pearl River in China (entitled Great Leap Forward) and on consumer society (The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping). Taschen Verlag has published the results. Now is preparing a major exhibition for the Guggenheim museum to open in 2019 entitled Countryside: Future of the World.
Among the awards he has won in recent years, we mention here the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize (2000), the Praemium Imperiale (2003), the Royal Gold Medal (2004) and the Mies Van Der Rohe prize (2005). In 2008, Time mentioned him among the 100 most influential people of the planet.
Cecil BALMOND
Cecil Balmond OBE is a Sri Lankan – British designer, artist, architect, and writer. In 1968 Balmond joined Ove Arup & Partners, leading him to become deputy chairman. In 2000 he founded design and research group, the AGU (Advanced Geometry Unit). He currently holds the Paul Philippe Cret Chair at PennDesign as Professor of Architecture where he is also the founding director of the Non Linear Systems Organization, a material and structural research unit. He has also been Kenzo Tange Professor at Harvard Graduate School of Architecture, Saarinen professor at Yale University School of Architecture and visiting fellow at London School of Economics.
In 2010 Balmond set up his own architectural practice, Balmond Studio, with offices in London and Colombo. The research led practice is involved with art, architecture, design and consulting. One current project is the Gretna Landmark, Star of Caledonia for which Cecil is the artist. It is an illuminated sculpture that marks the Scottish and English border crossing, and will be completed in 2015.
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to architecture.
In 2010 Balmond set up his own architectural practice, Balmond Studio, with offices in London and Colombo. The research led practice is involved with art, architecture, design and consulting. One current project is the Gretna Landmark, Star of Caledonia for which Cecil is the artist. It is an illuminated sculpture that marks the Scottish and English border crossing, and will be completed in 2015.
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to architecture.
JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
José Juan Barba (1964) architect from ETSA Madrid in 1991. Special Mention in the National Finishing University Education Awards 1991. PhD in Architecture ETSAM, 2004. He founded his professional practice in Madrid in 1992 (www.josejuanbarba.com). He is an architecture critic and editor-in-chief of METALOCUS magazine since 1999, and he was advising different NGOs until 1997. He has been a lecturer (in Design, Theory and Criticism, and Urban planning) and guest lecturer at different national and international universities (Roma TRE, Polytechnic Milan, ETSA Madrid, ETSA Barcelona, UNAM Mexico, Univ. Iberoamericana Mexico, University of Thessaly Volos, FA de Montevideo, Washington, Medellin, IE School, U.Alicante, Univ. Europea Madrid, UCJC Madrid, ESARQ-U.I.C. Barcelona,...).
Maître de Conférences IUG-UPMF Grenoble 2013-14. Full assistant Professor, since 2003 up to now at the University of Alcalá School of Architecture, Madrid, Spain. And Jury in competitions as Quaderns editorial magazine (2011), Mies van der Rohe Awards, (2010-2022), Europan13 (2015). He has been invited to participate in the Biennale di Venezia 2016 as part "Spaces of Exception / Spazi d'Eccezione".
He has published several books, the last in 2016, "#positions" and in 2015 "Inventions: New York vs. Rem Koolhaas, Bernard Tschumi, Piranesi " and collaborations on "Spaces of Exception / Spazi d'Eccezione", "La Mansana de la discordia" (2015), "Arquitectura Contemporánea de Japón: Nuevos territorios" (2015)...
Awards.-
- Award. RENOVATION OF SEGURA RIVER ENVIRONMENT, Murcia, Sapin, 2010.
- First Prize, RENOVATION GRAN VÍA, “Delirious Gran Vía”, Madrid, Spain, 2010.
- First Prize, “PANAYIOTI MIXELI Award”. SADAS-PEA, for the Spreading of Knowledge of Architecture Athens, 2005.
- First Prize, “SANTIAGO AMÓN Award," for the Spreading of Knowledge of Architecture. 2000.
- Award, “PIERRE VAGO Award." ICAC -International committee of Art Critics. London, 2005.
- First Prize, C.O.A.M. Madrid, 2000. Shortlisted, World Architecture Festival. Centro de Investigación e Interpretación de los Ríos. Tera, Esla y Orbigo, Barcelona, 2008.
- First Prize. FAD AWARD 07 Ephemeral Interventions. “M.C.ESCHER”. Arquin-Fad. Barcelona, Sapin 2007.
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