Serpentine Pavilion – A Capsule in Time by Marina Tabassum
Serpentine Gallery, London
June 06 – October 26, 2025

The Serpentine Pavilion 2025, A Capsule in Time, designed by Bangladeshi architect and educator Marina Tabassum and her firm, Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA), opens on 6 June 2025 with Goldman Sachs supporting the annual project for the 11th consecutive year.

Tabassum’s Pavilion will mark the 25th year of this pioneering commission and continues Dame Zaha Hadid’s ethos of pushing the boundaries of architecture. Her mantra, “There should be no end to experimentation”, is the foundation upon which this commission is built upon and Tabassum’s Pavilion exemplifies this.

Celebrated for her work that seeks to establish an architectural language that is contemporary while rooted and engaging with place, climate, context, culture and history, Tabassum’s design will resonate with Serpentine South and aims to prompt a dialogue between the permanent and the ephemeral nature of the commission.

The 2025 Pavilion is elongated in the north-south direction and features a central court that aligns with Serpentine South’s bell tower. Inspired by the tradition of park-going and arched garden canopies that filter soft daylight through green foliage, the sculptural quality of the Pavilion is comprised of four wooden capsule forms with a translucent façade that diffuses and dapples light when infiltrating the space. Marking the first structure by Tabassum to be built entirely from wood, it also employs light as a way to enhance the qualities of the space. Emphasising the sensory and spiritual possibilities of architecture through scale, geometry and the interplay of light and shadow, Tabassum’s design also features a kinetic element where one of the capsule forms is able to move and connect, transforming the Pavilion into a new spatial configuration.

Built around a semi-mature Ginkgo tree – a climate resilient tree species that dates back to the early Jurassic Period – Tabassum’s Pavilion, like much of Tabassum’s previous projects, considers the threshold between inside and outside, the tactility of material, lightness and darkness, height and volume. Throughout the course of summer and into autumn, the Gingko tree leaves will slowly shift from green to luminous gold-yellow. The selection of a Gingko was inspired by the fact that this species is showing tolerance to climate change and contributes to a diverse treescape in Kensington Gardens. The species is not susceptible to many current pests and diseases, and will be replanted into the park following the Pavilion’s closure in October.

In an era of increasing censorship, Tabassum expands on her desire for the Pavilion to function as a versatile space where visitors can come together and connect through conversations and the sharing of knowledge. Tabassum and her team at MTA have compiled a selection of books that celebrate the richness of Bengali culture, literature, poetry, ecology and Bangladesh. Stored on shelves built into the structure, it draws on the Pavilion’s afterlife once no longer sited on Serpentine’s lawn, which is envisioned as a library open to all.

In July, Serpentine and Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König, Köln, will co-publish a catalogue to accompany the Pavilion. Designed by Wolfe Hall, it will bring together new and insightful contributions from the fields of architecture and art to reflect on Tabassum’s Pavilion and wider practice. Generously illustrated in colour throughout, it features essays by art and architecture historian Perween Hasan; architect, educator and Dean of Yale School of Architecture Deborah Berke; architect, writer and critic Thomas de Monchaux; writer, editor and curator Shumon Basar; and visual, experimental contributions from artists Rana Begum and Naeem Mohaiemen.

Alongside these contributions, it includes reproductions of ink and pencil drawings taken from Tabassum’s sketchbook whilst developing the design of the Pavilion; a photo essay by photographer Iwan Baan; an extensive conversation between Marina Tabassum and Serpentine’s Artistic Director Hans Ulrich Obrist that delves into the work of Tabassum and traces the research, development and context behind the Pavilion; as well as a conversation between Tabassum and architect David Chipperfield.

more. www.serpentinegalleries.org