Serpentine Gallery have announced the winner of the 25th annual Serpentine Pavilion commission.
Bangladeshi architect and educator Marina Tabassum will design the new Pavilion, titled A Capsule in Time, with her firm Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA) in the 25th iteration of the commission.
Serpentine Gallery’s annual Pavilion commission began in 2000 with Dame Zaha Hadid’s re-invention of a marquee in Hyde Park.
Courtauld Institute of Art doctoral researcher Alex Bispham said: “The choice for the Pavilion this year couldn’t be more fitting.
“I’m very excited to see Marina Tabassum selected, who in my opinion will bring a transnational dialogue of innovation to London.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing the designs come to life.”
MTA, which was founded in 2005, explores architecture’s role in alleviating harsh living conditions for those marginalised in regions of Bangladesh and has buildings in Dhaka and across the country.
The designs aim to engage socially, politically and ecologically with their location and also looks at Bangladesh’s acute vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.
One of their projects built modular houses, which are assembled on site, for those living by Bangladeshi rivers such as the Jamuna and are designed to be easily deconstructed and moved elsewhere.
The Pavilion commission has presented structures in London by some of the most well-known architects internationally, such as Theaster Gates in 2022, and Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei in 2012.
MTA won the commission with a design of a long pavilion with a central court, inspired by arched garden canopies and will be installed near to Serpentine South.
Tabassum said: “We are thrilled to be selected as the architect of this year’s Serpentine Pavilion.
“When conceiving the design, we reflected on the transient nature of the commission which appears to us as a capsule of memory and time.
“The Serpentine Pavilion offers a unique platform under the summer sun to unite as people rich in diversity.”
Tabassum has won multiple awards and in 2024 was featured in TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People.
The new Pavilion will be unveiled to the public at Serpentine South on 6 June, and is free to visit.
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