\u00a0<\/p>\n
For LANZA atelier, the project began with a surprising discovery. While researching the commission, the architects encountered the English architectural feature that shares its name with both the nearby lake and the institution<\/strong><\/a>. The crinkle-crankle wall, characterized by its alternating curves, originated in Ancient Egypt before being introduced to England by Dutch engineers centuries later. Beyond its visual appeal, the wall carries a practical intelligence that immediately resonated with the architects.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Brick<\/strong><\/a> becomes the primary material and conceptual instrument of the project. While often associated with permanence, mass, and enclosure, LANZA atelier deploys it in ways that challenge those assumptions. \u2018We are using brick walls, made from clay, to highlight artisanal construction methods as tried-and-true technologies for our collective present,\u2019 the architects explain.<\/strong> \u2018But these walls, rather than monumental and opaque, are permeable and unapologetically graceful.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n rethinking brickwork for the 2026 seprentine pavilion<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018By virtue of its sinuous shape, the serpentine wall is recognized for requiring fewer bricks than a straight wall, as its winding geometry introduces lateral support to an otherwise flimsy one-brick-wide structure,\u2019 they explain.<\/strong> In agricultural settings, these walls often function as fruit walls, absorbing warmth throughout the day and releasing it during the night to create protected growing environments. \u2018The structure employs less while providing more,\u2019 LANZA atelier continues,<\/strong> \u2018which is a timely lesson for our current era of overconsumption.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Yet the architects were equally fascinated by the convergence of meanings surrounding the word itself. \u2018It\u2019s quite magical that the same word gives name to a water feature, a lake, to a place, Serpentine, and to an architectural element, a wall,\u2019 the Mexican duo<\/a> tells designboom.<\/strong> The connection feels particularly resonant given the symbolic role of the serpent within Mesoamerican cosmologies. \u2018This is the first time that a Serpentine Pavilion actually revolves around the serpentine.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n a geometry that achieves more with less<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The completed structure translates these references into an architecture that is ancient and contemporary at the same time. Positioned on the northern side of the site, the pavilion is organized around curving brick walls and a lightweight translucent canopy supported by a grove-like arrangement of columns. The design establishes a dialogue with both the surrounding trees and the brick facade of Serpentine South Gallery, itself originally conceived as a tea pavilion.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Throughout the pavilion, walls dissolve into rhythmic assemblies of slender brick columns separated by narrow gaps. Visitors can see through surfaces that would traditionally obstruct vision, creating moments of visual exchange between people occupying different parts of the space. \u2018They reveal the power of walls not to divide, but to bring together,\u2019 the architects share with us.<\/strong> \u2018People can see through a surface that is traditionally opaque, and eventually gazes can connect.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The material language extends continuously across the floor and into integrated furniture elements, where brick surfaces form\u00a0seating and the caf\u00e9 counter, demonstrating what the architects describe as an interest in exploring the full potential of a single material. \u2018We try to focus on one primary material for each project, to explore all possible uses,\u2019 they note.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n a shifting condition of enclosure<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Above, a translucent roof composed of a spatial steel grid, polycarbonate panels, and Eco-Bau fabric fins filters daylight throughout the structure. \u2018The marriage of traditional artisanal craft with high-performance technological materials is a contrast we welcome,\u2019 they explain.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This balance between solidity and lightness ultimately contributes to what may be the most defining characteristic of the pavilion: its spatial ambiguity that does not establish a clear distinction between interior and exterior.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Spatial ambiguity is fundamental to most of our projects because it questions the boundaries between inside and outside,\u2019 LANZA atelier tells designboom.<\/strong> \u2018We are interested in creating an architecture that does not impose a singular condition, but rather constantly shifts between moments of intimacy and openness.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The pavilion aims to form relationships and connections\u00a0between built form, landscape, climate, and movement. The architects point out that the project extends beyond the covered area itself toward a curved brick bench positioned along the southern edge of the lawn. \u2018Half of the Pavilion is covered while the other half remains open to the sky,\u2019 they note.<\/strong> \u2018This ambiguity encourages movement and discovery.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n framing encounters through design<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The result is an architecture that remains deliberately incomplete without its users. \u2018The underlying question is: what can architecture do?\u2019 the duo asks.<\/strong> \u2018Or, more specifically, how can architecture foster more meaningful forms of social connection?\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n For Abascal and Arienzo, the role of architecture is not to dictate behavior but to create conditions in which encounters can emerge. \u2018We like the idea that architecture can frame relationships instead of controlling them,\u2019 they say.<\/strong> In this sense, \u2018a serpentine\u2019 becomes a framework for collective experience, one that will host performances, conversations, screenings, workshops, family events, and Serpentine\u2019s annual Park Nights program throughout the summer and into autumn.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This emphasis on relationships also informs LANZA atelier\u2019s understanding of beauty, a recurring theme throughout their work. At a moment when architecture is often measured primarily through performance metrics and efficiency calculations, the architects reject the notion that beauty occupies a separate category.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018To us, beauty is not opposed to performance or efficiency,\u2019 they explain.<\/strong> \u2018On the contrary, beauty often emerges from an intelligent response to material, climate, structure, and use.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Once again, the serpentine wall itself becomes the clearest example. \u2018Its curved geometry allows it to use fewer bricks while becoming structurally stronger and spatially seductive,\u2019 they describe.<\/strong> \u2018That is our idea of beauty.\u2019<\/p>\n The landscape of Kensington Gardens further deepened these questions. Surrounded by one of London\u2019s most celebrated public parks, the architects found themselves reflecting on the relationship their pavilion and the gardens. \u2018Being in such an idyllic context as Kensington Gardens we feel it is the perfect time to discuss what the idea of a garden means and how an English garden is related to historical elements of architecture and ancient materiality,\u2019 LANZA atelier shares with us.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n finding paradise around a wall<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Their reflections led them to the ancient Persian roots of the word \u2018paradise\u2019. \u2018Many authors refer to the etymology of paradise, which comes from the Avestan word \u201dpairidaeza\u201d,\u2019 they point out.<\/strong> While commonly interpreted as a walled garden, LANZA atelier proposes an alternative reading. \u2018We like to consider that in the encounter between around and wall, a compelling concept arises: the place that happens around a wall.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The observation reveals much about the pavilion itself, a project that frames walls as catalysts for social and spatial life. \u2018From our architectural perspective, paradise arises in the balance between human intervention and the natural context around it,\u2019 the architects add.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n As the pavilion opens to the public, LANZA atelier is particularly interested in the unpredictable ways visitors might inhabit the space. \u2018While we have planned for some places to sit or observe, we know that visitors will surprise us with their interaction with the space and that is exciting,\u2019 says Isabel Abascal.<\/strong> The architects are especially eager to see how performers, musicians, poets, and artists respond to the setting throughout Serpentine\u2019s summer program. \u2018We can\u2019t anticipate how they will use the space and that is one of the beautiful things that architecture can accomplish, being able to host the unpredictable.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n adding a voice to the pavilion legacy<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n For Alessandro Arienzo, the material presence of the pavilion will play a central role in these encounters. \u2018I do think the brick material is going to be well received; it\u2019s a material we all have a relation to,\u2019 he tells us<\/strong>. \u2018But the way we are using it this time is so specific that we expect people to resonate with it. Materiality will be very present and we are excited about that.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Although \u2018a serpentine\u2019 marks the 25th anniversary of the Serpentine Pavilion commission, LANZA atelier views the project as a contribution to an ongoing conversation spanning a quarter-century of architectural experimentation. \u2018We are also adding our own voice to 24 previous voices that have left their mark on the Serpentine lawn,\u2019 the architects reflect.<\/strong> Together, those projects form \u2018a collage of the architecture of the first quarter of the 21st century.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The architects hope their contribution carries a lesson embedded within the wall that inspired it. \u2018We would like to encourage the global architectural community to be as clever as the Serpentine wall,\u2019 they conclude,<\/strong> \u2018by virtue of its unexpected shape which employs fewer materials than a straight wall and is stronger, more stable.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n LANZA atelier\u2019s pavilion proposes that the future of architecture may lie in achieving more with less. Through a simple clay brick wall that curves, opens, shelters, and connects, \u2018a serpentine\u2019 revisits an ancient construction technique and transforms it into a contemporary argument for generosity, efficiency, and collective life.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n project info:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n name<\/strong>: a serpentine lead architects:<\/strong>\u00a0Isabel Abascal, Alessandro Arienzo event:\u00a0<\/strong>Serpentine Pavilion<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0@serpentineuk<\/a>![\"inside](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/lanza-atelier-curving-brick-design-2026-serpentine-pavilion-isabel-abascal-alessandro-arienzo-design.jpeg\")
Serpentine Pavilion 2026 a serpentine, designed by Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo, LANZA atelier | design renders \u00a9 LANZA atelier. courtesy Serpentine<\/p>\n![\"inside](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780476673_95_lanza-atelier-curving-brick-design-2026-serpentine-pavilion-isabel-abascal-alessandro-arienzo-design.jpeg\")
LANZA atelier\u2019s proposal draws a historic English architectural feature composed of alternating curves<\/p>\n![\"inside](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780476673_834_lanza-atelier-curving-brick-design-2026-serpentine-pavilion-isabel-abascal-alessandro-arienzo-design.jpeg\")
the serpentine wall gains its structural stability from its geometry<\/p>\n![\"inside](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780476674_701_lanza-atelier-curving-brick-design-2026-serpentine-pavilion-isabel-abascal-alessandro-arienzo-design.jpeg\")
the pavilion is positioned on the northern side of the site and structured through two main walls<\/p>\n![\"inside](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780476675_775_lanza-atelier-curving-brick-design-2026-serpentine-pavilion-isabel-abascal-alessandro-arienzo-design.jpeg\")
conceptual sketch, worm\u2019s eye view | image \u00a9 LANZA atelier, courtesy of Serpentine<\/p>\n![\"inside](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780476676_410_lanza-atelier-curving-brick-design-2026-serpentine-pavilion-isabel-abascal-alessandro-arienzo-design.jpeg\")
Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo of LANZA atelier | image \u00a9 Pia Riverola<\/p>\n
architect<\/strong>:\u00a0LANZA atelier<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0@lanzaatelier<\/a><\/p>\n
location<\/strong>: Serpentine South, Kensington Gardens, London, UK<\/p>\n
opening date<\/strong>: June 6th, 2026<\/p>\n