LAST CHANCE TO SEE

THE SERPENTINE PAVILION 2026, BY LANZA ATELIER | SERPENTINE SOUTH | ON VIEW UNTIL 25 OCTOBER 2026

This year's Pavilion was designed by the Mexican architecture studio LANZA atelier, founded by Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo. This groundbreaking commission, first launched in 2000 with Dame Zaha Hadid, has introduced the UK’s inaugural structures by many of the most influential figures in international architecture.

LANZA atelier emphasises the role of design in everyday interactions and identifies the pursuit of beauty as a recurring theme in their work. The Mexico City-based architecture studio founded by Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo, has anchored the 2026 Serpentine Pavilion on the English architectural feature known as a serpentine, or crinkle-crankle, wall. The wall derives its stability from its curving form, requiring fewer bricks than a straight wall. The name of the Pavilion, a serpentine, is inspired by this feature, which makes up the Pavilion’s south wall and subtly references the nearby Serpentine Lake, whose gentle curve evokes the form of a serpent.

The north wall of the structure is in dialogue with the surrounding landscape, curving around the nearby tree canopy. A translucent roof allows light and air to permeate the space, softening the boundary between enclosure and openness. The roof rests lightly on brick columns which evoke a grove of trees.

LANZA atelier chose brick as the primary material to celebrate the distinctly English garden tradition and establish a conversation with the existing brick façade of the Serpentine South Gallery, which was originally built as a tea pavilion. The Pavilion is constructed from a rhythmic repetition of brick columns that transform the wall from opaque to permeable.

Image: Serpentine Pavilion 2026, a serpentine, designed by LANZA atelier, founded by Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo. Aerial view © LANZA atelier. Photo: Iwan Baan. Courtesy Serpentine.

PUBLIC ART | JESÚS RAFAEL SOTO: PÉNÉTRABLE BBC JAUNE (1999; 2023 EDITION | SERPENTINE SOUTH | ON VIEW UNTIL 25 OCTOBER 2026

Serpentine features the presentation of a public sculpture by Jesús Rafael SOTO, launching a dynamic summer programme in the park. Situated in the vicinity of Serpentine South, Pénétrable BBL Jaune (1999; 2023 Edition) is on show until 25 October 2026. This is the first outdoor presentation of the artist’s work in the UK. Art situated in the park has become central to Serpentine’s year-round activities, extending its exhibitions beyond the gallery walls and into the surrounding landscape.

Pénétrable BBL Jaune (1999; 2023 Edition) exemplifies the artist’s lifelong interest in movement, space and tactility. Born in Venezuela in 1923, SOTO became one of the leading exponents of kinetic art and created more than seventy Pénétrable sculptures of various sizes and colours throughout his seven-decade long career: works composed of metal rods and nylon strands suspended in space through which viewers are invited to enter.

Image: Jesús Rafael Soto, Pénétrable BBL Jaune (1999;2023 Edition). © Jesús Rafael Soto / ADAGP, Paris 2026. Courtesy Atelier Soto, Paris and Galerie Perrotin. Photo: George Darrell. Courtesy Serpentine

ABOUT SERPENTINE

Building new connections between artists and audiences, Serpentine presents pioneering contemporary art exhibitions and cultural events with a legacy that stretches back over half a century, from a wide range of emerging practitioners to the most internationally recognised artists, writers, scientists, thinkers, and cultural thought leaders of our time.

Based in London’s Kensington Gardens, across two sites, Serpentine North and Serpentine South, Serpentine features a year-round, free programme of exhibitions, architectural showcases, education, live events and technological activations, in the park and beyond the gallery walls.

The Serpentine Pavilion is a yearly pioneering commission, which began in 2000 with Dame Zaha Hadid. It features the first UK structures by some of the biggest names in international architecture.

Public art has emerged as a central strand of Serpentine’s programme. Major presentations include a collection of Eduardo Paolozzi’s sculptures (1987), Anish Kapoor’s Turning the World Upside Down (2010), Lee Ufan presented Relatum – Stage (2018-19), Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s London Mastaba in the Serpentine Lake (2018), I LOVE YOU EARTH by Yoko Ono (2021), Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster In remembrance of the coming alien (Alienor), (2022), Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg’s Pollinator Pathmaker (2022 - 2023), Gerhard Richter’s STRIP-TOWER (2023), Yayoi Kusama’s Pumpkin (2024), Esther Mahlangu’s mural Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (2024) and David Hockney’s A Year in Normandie, 2026.

Giuseppe Penone’s Albero folgorato (Thunderstruck Tree) (2012) and Idee di pietra (Ideas of Stone), 2010–2024 (2025); Pénétrable BBL Jaune (1999; 2023 edition) by Jesús Rafael Soto are currently on view in Kensington Gardens.

Proud to maintain free access for all visitors, Serpentine reaches an exceptionally broad audience and maintains a profound connection with its local community.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT

Nicholas Smirnoff, Head of Communications: nicholass@serpentinegalleries.org, +44 7570 291 018