Serpentine Pavilion 2026 by LANZA atelier Opens This Saturday
Every June, a temporary building appears on the lawn beside Serpentine South and becomes the most talked about piece of architecture in London for the summer. This Saturday, 6 June, the Serpentine Pavilion 2026 opens to the public, and it is a milestone year: the 25th edition of a commission that began with Zaha Hadid's pavilion in 2000. It stays open until 25 October, which gives Knightsbridge residents the whole summer to make the short walk across Hyde Park to see it.
Who designed it
This year's architects are LANZA atelier, the Mexico City studio founded in 2015 by Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo. Their practice is described as rooted in the everyday and the informal, with an emphasis on dialogue and shared experience, which suits a building whose job is to host a summer of public events. Their pavilion is titled a serpentine, all in lower case.
A very English idea, rebuilt
The design takes its cue from the serpentine, or crinkle-crankle, wall: the undulating garden wall found in old English kitchen gardens. As designboom explains, the form travelled from ancient Egypt to England via Dutch engineers, and its alternating curves give it enough stability to stand just one brick thick. The architects also drew on English fruit walls, built to create sheltered, warmer microclimates for growing.
The pavilion is made principally of clay brick, a nod to the brick facade of Serpentine South, which began life as a tea pavilion. Brick columns move from solid to open in a steady rhythm, so the structure gradually reveals and withholds views as you walk through. Two main walls organise the space: one follows the serpentine curve, the other lines up with the existing tree canopy. Above, a translucent roof rests lightly on the columns, letting light and air through in a way the architects compare to a grove of trees.
More than a building
The pavilion is designed as a stage, with talks, performances, screenings and interdisciplinary events planned through the summer and autumn. To mark the 25th edition, Serpentine is also working with the Zaha Hadid Foundation on a programme that looks back at the inaugural pavilion, with former Pavilion architects invited to contribute. Goldman Sachs supports the Pavilion for the twelfth consecutive year.
Planning your visit
The pavilion is free to visit and open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm. From Knightsbridge, enter Hyde Park at Albert Gate or Edinburgh Gate and walk north west across the park and over towards Kensington Gardens; Serpentine South sits just west of the Serpentine bridge. Weekday mornings are quietest, and the first weekend will be busy, so if you want photographs without a crowd, go early. Afterwards, look inside the gallery at Serpentine South, then wander back along the south side of the lake towards Knightsbridge for a late lunch. For more summer ideas nearby, see our things to do page.
