Author Description

The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2005 has been designed by the celebrated Portuguese Pritzker Prize winning architect Alvaro Siza and the distinguished architect Eduardo Souto de Moura. As in past years Cecil Balmond, Deputy Chairman of Arup, together with his team, has worked closely with Siza and Souto de Moura to develop the scheme. This year's remarkable Pavilion is based on a simple rectangular grid, which has been distorted to create a dynamic curvaceous form. It comprises interlocking timber beams, a material that accentuates the relationship between the Pavilion and the surrounding Park. A translucent polycarbonate covering allows light to penetrate the Pavilion. This impermeable shell stops 1.3m from the ground so that the structure appears to hover above the lawn, poised like an animal with an arched back and taut skin, ready to pounce. 250 solar powered lamps will illuminate the structure at dusk."