For those who don't live in London, this is the new Rem Koolhaas pavilion in Kensington Gardens. Although quite a clever piece of engineering, I prefer last year's effort by Souza and Alvaro made out of laminated veneered lumber.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82/supertek/DSC00786.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a82/supertek/DSC00783.jpg

Rem Koolhaas should go into a joint venture with Michael Fuch, just for the name :)

not particually impressed by this pavillion, its quiet ugly to be honest from the outside. But I guess it makes sense as a space for talks and the cafe.

Rem Koolhaas should go into a joint venture with Michael Fuch, just for the name :)

:)

Went to the pavillion at the weekend and have to say i was utterly dissapointed. The only saving grace was the Maison Blanc yummy savouries and cakes.

What.... is it?

What this years pavillion or the concept in principle?

This years pavillion is a balloon like dome that can be inflated and deflated to adjust its height. Under it, polycarbonate panels (well they look very similar to the Laban Dance Centre) enclose a circular relaxation space containing foam seat cubes and a kiosk serving food and drinks with some panels and screens dotted around describing the work of the gallery and construction of the pavillion.

The concept of the serpentine pavillion is to provide an extension to the gallery and importantly to raise the profile of the work of the hyde park institution. Each year a world famous (or becoming world famous ;)) architect is invited to design a pavillion. In past years this have included the likes of Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind and Toyo Ito. Rem Koolhaas can be argued to be the most famous of all the architects used but has been a bit of a disappointment (in my opinion anyway).

Just build one and people will go there, stop faffing about..

^hehe somehow i am not to sure The Royal Parks would be too keen on a massive extension to the Serpentine Gallery :)