Bjarke Ingels to design the 2016 Serpentine Pavilion – joined by 4 summer houses

Bjarke Ingels will design this year’s Serpentine Pavilion, while four other architects will conceive neighbouring summer houses in London’s Kensington Gardens.

The Danish architect – whose firm BIG is known for designing the Danish Maritime Museum and the proposed Two World Trade Centre in New York – will create the 300 sq m annual summer structure on the lawn of the Serpentine Gallery. As with previous commissioned architects for the pavilion, the starchitect has yet to build a permanent building in England.

Ingels’ design will be joined for the first time ever by four follies that take cues from Queen Caroline’s Temple, a classical 1734 summer house around the corner in Kensington Gardens.

Nigerian Kunlé Adeyemi, New York-based practice Barkow Leibinger, veteran French architect Yona Friedman and the London-born Asif Khan will conceive the smaller 25 sq m structures as part of the Serpentine Gallery’s bolstered 2016 offering.

‘After 15 years, the Pavilion programme has expanded,’ said the Serpentine’s outgoing director, Julia Peyton-Jones. ‘It now comprises five structures, each designed by an architect of international renown, aged between 36 and 93.’

Peyton-Jones conceived the idea of an annual pavilion back in 2000, with the 16th edition capping off her 25-year tenure at the Serpentine Gallery.

The practices have six months to carry out their project, from commission to completion, with the designs going to planning later this month. All five structures will be on show for four months over the summer.

Last year, Spanish practice Selgascano created a candy-coloured structure for the event. It followed in the footsteps of industry titans including Jean Nouvel, SAANA, Zaha Hadid, Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei.