Image © Mass Studies, courtesy Serpentine
South Korean studio Mass Studies has been announced as the designer of the 2024 Serpentine Pavilion, which will be shaped like a star with five ‘island’ points.
Designed by practice principal Minsuk Cho, the celestial structure will be the 23rd edition of the Serpentine Galleries’ ongoing architectural series, which has seen the likes of Zaha Hadid, Olafur Eliasson, and Frida Escobedo create temporary structures at London’s Kensington Gardens.
According to the gallery, this year’s design, dubbed Archipelagic Void, adopts a slightly different approach. Serpentine pavilions are typically a singular structure built at the centre of the Serpentine’s South Lawn. Cho will instead create a ‘spoked’ design that will house five different and distinct ‘islands’ arranged like a star. It will be his first building in the UK.
Minsuk Cho, Mass Studies. © Photo by Mok Jungwook.
Each of the pavilion’s ‘zones’ will serve a different purpose, hosting events, serving tea and creating space for quiet contemplation and reading. At the heart of the island lies a central, open area referencing the courtyards found in historic Korean homes, known as madangs.
Cho explains his design: ‘It also begins to address the history of the Serpentine Pavilion. By inverting the centre as a void, we shift our architectural focus away from the built centre of the past, facilitating new possibilities and narratives.’
Archipelagic Void opens to the public in June.
