In its 40th anniversary year, the Serpentine Gallery is delighted to announce that the 10th Serpentine Gallery Pavilion is being designed by world-renowned French architect Jean Nouvel. This year’s Pavilion is the 10th commission in the Gallery’s annual series, the world’s first and most ambitious architectural programme of its kind. It will be the architect’s first completed building in the UK.

The Pavilion commission has become an international site for architectural experimentation and follows a long tradition of Pavilions by some of the world’s greatest architects. The immediacy of the commission – a maximum of six months from invitation to completion – provides a unique model worldwide.

The design for the 2010 Pavilion is a contrast of lightweight materials and dramatic metal cantilevered structures. The entire design is rendered in a vivid red that, in a play of opposites, contrasts with the green of its park setting. In London the colour reflects the iconic British images of traditional telephone boxes, post boxes and London buses.

The building consists of bold geometric forms, large retractable awnings and a freestanding wall that climbs 12m above the lawn, sloping at a gravity defying angle. It experiments with the idea of play in its incorporation of the French tradition of outdoor table-tennis. Striking glass, polycarbonate and fabric structures create a versatile system of interior and exterior spaces. The flexible auditoria will accommodate the Serpentine Gallery Park Nights and Marathon and the changing summer weather.

Nouvel’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion will operate as a public space, a café and as a venue for Park Nights, the Gallery’s acclaimed programme of public talks and events, attracting up to 250,000 visitors every summer. The Pavilion will open in July on the Serpentine Gallery’s lawn, where it will remain until October. Nouvel will work with the structural design and engineering firm Arup, led by David Glover and Ed Clark with Cecil Balmond, to realise this project.

Julia Peyton-Jones, Director, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-Director, Serpentine Gallery, said: “We could not be more thrilled that Jean Nouvel has accepted our invitation to design the 10th Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, the only commission of its kind worldwide that annually invites pre-eminent architects to complete their first build structure in England. It is an honour to bring Nouvel’s globally acclaimed work to London for everyone to enjoy.”

There is no budget for the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion commission. It is paid for by sponsorship, sponsorship help-in-kind and the sale of the finished structure, which does not cover more than 40% of its cost. The Serpentine Gallery collaborates with a range of companies and individuals whose support makes it possible to realise the Pavilion. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary we are delighted the Pavilion is being supported by Arts Council England, through its Sustain programme.

Jean Nouvel
Jean Nouvel (b. 1945, Fumel, France) studied at the Ecole nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in Paris. From 1967 to 1970, he worked as an assistant and then as project manager to the acclaimed architects Claude Parent and Paul Virilio. Nouvel has headed his own architectural practice since 1970. In 1994 he established Ateliers Jean Nouvel, which is now one of the largest architectural practices in France with offices worldwide. Ateliers Jean Nouvel specialises in the fields of architecture, urban design, landscape design, industrial design and interior design. Along with the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion commission, Nouvel has recently unveiled his plans for the new National Museum of Qatar.

Nouvel’s body of work is unparalleled in its innovation and range. His approach is characterised by a conceptual rigour, rather than by an overarching aesthetic. He emphasises research, analysis and discussion, creating designs that are highly individual to each project. A key part of Nouvel’s process is his embrace of other disciplines, including music, literature and the moving image.

View previous Serpentine Gallery Pavilions

Admission free
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2010
by Jean Nouvel
July – October 2010

Serpentine Gallery
Kensington Gardens
London W2 3XA
T 020 7402 6075
information@serpentinegallery.org

Map of the Pavilion's location

Nearest Tube: South Kensington or Lancaster Gate
Gallery open 10am to 6pm daily.