When the Wall Becomes Architecture: The 2026 Serpentine Pavilion
2 min read
The pavilion is titled "a serpentine" and refers at once to the so-called serpentine or crinkle-crankle wall, a sinuously curved wall that derives its stability purely from its curvature and therefore requires fewer bricks than a straight wall, and to the nearby Serpentine Lake, whose gentle bend has lent the structure its form. Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo, the founders of LANZA atelier, turn this historical detail into the constructive principle underlying their design.
The south wall picks up the curving wall form and enters into dialogue with the brick façade of the neighbouring Serpentine South Gallery, originally built as a tea pavilion. The north wall responds to its surroundings, curving around the tree canopy of the park. Between the two, a space emerges that is neither enclosed nor open – spanned by a translucent roof that lets light and air pass through. It rests on brick columns that evoke a grove of trees and free the brick from its classic role as a solid, load-bearing wall element.
That a studio from Mexico City engages so intensively with an English garden element is by design: LANZA atelier understands design as an engagement with everyday interactions, and the pursuit of beauty as a recurring theme in its work.
For the international architecture scene, the pavilion remains what it has been since its introduction in 2000 by Zaha Hadid: a recurring annual field of experimentation in which craft traditions, local building typologies and personal architectural positions are condensed into the smallest of spaces. With LANZA atelier, the Serpentine Gallery continues this series – and is a reminder that radical architectural statements need not always draw on new materials, but often emerge from a closer look at what seems familiar.
All pictures: © LANZA atelier, Photos by Iwan Baan
What: Serpentine Pavilion 2026 – "a serpentine" by LANZA atelier
When: 6 June to 25 October 2026, Mon–Fri 10am–6pm, Sat–Sun 10am–7pm
Where: Kensington Gardens, London, Admission free
