From the Hands of a Giant
The 2014 Serpentine Pavilion by Smiljan Radić
A semi-translucent, cylindrical structure that resembled a shell and rested on large quarry stones, the 2014 Pavilion occupied 350 square metres of the Serpentine’s lawn...Designed as a flexible, multi-purpose social space, the Pavilion had a café sited inside.
[Serpentine Galleries]
The shell is made from fibreglass sheets 10mm thick, settled on 60 tonnes of rocks.
"I wanted to make it look like it came from the hands of a giant,..In the tradition of the English garden folly, it should be something that surprises the public and draws their attention, providing a spatial experience that you don't get every day."
Smiljan Radić
During the day, this rough-cast blob, which was made in Yorkshire, has the solidity of a pebble. But once inside, or when seen by night, it glows with a yellowish tinge, its fibrous surface giving it the look of shed skin. It is jagged and smeary, a texture offset by fine steel wires that hang a zigzagging lighting rail through the space, and an angular window, sharply sliced out to capture views of the lake beyond. It is a careful assembly of things that are both ragged and refined, contrasting roughly hewn with smoothly polished.
Oliver Wainwright, The Guardian
From the Hands of a Giant
The 2014 Serpentine Pavilion by Smiljan Radić
A semi-translucent, cylindrical structure that resembled a shell and rested on large quarry stones, the 2014 Pavilion occupied 350 square metres of the Serpentine’s lawn...Designed as a flexible, multi-purpose social space, the Pavilion had a café sited inside.
[Serpentine Galleries]
The shell is made from fibreglass sheets 10mm thick, settled on 60 tonnes of rocks.
"I wanted to make it look like it came from the hands of a giant,..In the tradition of the English garden folly, it should be something that surprises the public and draws their attention, providing a spatial experience that you don't get every day."
Smiljan Radić
During the day, this rough-cast blob, which was made in Yorkshire, has the solidity of a pebble. But once inside, or when seen by night, it glows with a yellowish tinge, its fibrous surface giving it the look of shed skin. It is jagged and smeary, a texture offset by fine steel wires that hang a zigzagging lighting rail through the space, and an angular window, sharply sliced out to capture views of the lake beyond. It is a careful assembly of things that are both ragged and refined, contrasting roughly hewn with smoothly polished.
Oliver Wainwright, The Guardian