Serpentine Pavilion 2012 Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei
So I finally went to go to this year’s pavilion to take some photos and see how it compares to the other past pavilions. All in all I think it was ok but nowhere near as good as last year’s Zumthor effort.
The design is essentially made up from tracings from previous pavilions and the basic idea was to have a kind of sunken space that reveals the history of the site, almost like an archaeological excavation. Internally, the space is made from cork and is carved to create stepped seating areas all over the place. Above is a large disc which sits slightly off centre with water pool on top.
I sat there for a while to see how people were reacting to it and using it. On the whole it seemed like they were mostly confused, not exactly sure where to sit. The oval shape creates a space that looks inwards so no views to anything outside. People, therefore, predictably were sitting there watching each other. I suppose if you had a person sitting somewhere in the middle giving a talk then it would work better. I think it’s something they’re planning to do later on.
Also, on this sunny day, the space underneath was really dark. There were lights attached to the bottom of the disc that covers the pavilion that helped a bit. I don’t know if they were part of the initial design but to me they looked like an afterthought.
As I was about to leave I heard someone stumble on the opposite end of where I was sitting. It was an old man, probably in his 80’s. Some people next to him went to help him up. As he got up, after a good few minutes, he turned to them and said, “too many steps”.
I did enjoy being there but I think what he said summed it up pretty well.
Short video I took with my mobile phone.
Spektreman 
Oddly enough, the seating area reminds me a bit of part of an office space a Dutch interior design company did. The company wanted a space for workers to gather informally and be inspired to come up with new ideas.
The seats were quite nice and comfy.
I have a theory actually about how they came up with the design. I imagine it happened when they all met for dinner. (I bet you know where this is going!)
So yes, I think they were having some wine and discussing what to do for the pavilion, maybe playing with the wine cork at the same time! Then one of them went “I GOT IT!”.
I’m still kind of sore from sitting on a wooden bench for a few hours Wednesday night, so comfortable seating made of cork sounds fantastic! I do like the archaeological look of it all, especially after appreciating some of the recent digging they were doing in the Domplein here.
The cork was nice actually. They did mention that the material is not often used and it was good to show people what you can do with it.
By the way, the disc on top, is sort of like a plate! Maybe they were having soup…..
Yup, I’m not letting it go! I’m convinced about my dinner theory. 🙂