This year鈥檚 pavillion designed by Junya Ishigami
This year鈥檚 Serpentine Pavilion in London鈥檚 Hyde Park will open on Friday with the designer behind this year鈥檚 structure taking inspiration from roofs.
Japanese architect Junya Ishigami鈥檚 design sees slates arranged to create a single canopy roof that appears to emerge from the ground of the surrounding park.
Ishigami said the interior is designed to mimic an enclosed cave-like space to give visitors a chance for contemplation.
Previous architects to have worked on the commission include Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry and Rem Koolhaas. The technical consultant on the scheme was Aecom.
Meanwhile, the official press preview, which was due to take place yesterday (17 June), has been delayed until tomorrow following the resignation of the Serpentine Gallery鈥檚 chief executive Yana Peel on the eve of this year鈥檚 pavilion opening.
Peel said she had been on the receiving end of a 鈥渃oncerted lobbying campaign against my husband鈥檚 investments鈥� and warned that such 鈥渂ullying鈥� would 鈥渞isk an erosion of private support鈥� for the arts. Human rights groups are believed to have been behind the campaign.
Her husband Mark Peel is a private equity investor with a majority stake in Israeli surveillance technology firm NSO Group.
It is the second controversy to hit his year鈥檚 pavilion, after it emerged that its architect, Junya Ishigami, routinely used unpaid interns to staff his office in Japan.
After a social media campaign the Serpentine announced it would insist that none of the work on the pavilion was done by unpaid interns.
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