Serpentine 2025 Pavilion 'A Capsule in Time', designed by Marina Tabassum, Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA). Design render, interior view. Photography: © Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA). Courtesy Serpentine.

Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum has been announced as the architect of the 2025 Serpentine Pavilion, and her ‘time capsule’ design will explore the themes of permanence, time, and legacy.

Marina Tabassum’s pavilion will open to the public at Serpentine South on 6 June. It is the architect’s first major UK commission. Inspired by traditional arched garden canopies, the pavilion comprises four wooden ‘capsules’ with translucent facades that diffuse light into their interiors. ‘A Capsule in Time’ also features a kinetic element inspired by the Shamiyana tents or awnings across South Asia. One of the capsules can move and connect, reconfiguring the pavilion’s layout and transforming it into a new, adaptable space.

Portrait of Marina Tabassum. Photography: Asif Salman

‘When conceiving our design, we reflected on the transient nature of the commission which appears to us as a capsule of memory and time,’ said Tabassum. ‘The relationship between time and architecture is intriguing: between permanence and impermanence, of birth, age and ruin; architecture aspires to outlive time. Architecture is a tool to live behind legacies, fulfilling the inherent human desire for continuity beyond life.’

Tabassum spent 10 years as partner at URBANA – the firm she co-founded with Kashef Chowdhury from 1995 to 2005 – before establishing her eponymous firm MTA in 2005. She has built projects across Dhaka and Bangladesh where sustainability and climate adaptivity are key concerns.

‘In the Bengal delta, architecture is ephemeral as dwellings change locations with the rivers shifting courses. Architecture becomes memories of the lived spaces continued through tales. The archaic volume of a half capsule, generated by geometry and wrapped in light semi-transparent material will create a play of filtered light that will pierce through the structure as if under a Shamiyana at a Bengali wedding. The Serpentine Pavilion offers a unique platform under the summer sun to unite as people rich in diversity. The stage is set, the seats are placed. We envision various events and encounters taking place in this versatile space that unifies people through conversations and connections.’

Serpentine 2025 Pavilion ‘A Capsule in Time’, designed by Marina Tabassum, Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA). Design render, exterior view. Photography: © Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA). Courtesy Serpentine.
Serpentine 2025 Pavilion ‘A Capsule in Time’, designed by Marina Tabassum, Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA). Design render, aerial view. Photography: © Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA). Courtesy Serpentine.

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