In case you didn't know, every year the Serpentine Gallery commissions an artist to design a temporary summer pavilion for the renowned contemporary art space in London. Just yesterday, Chilean architect Smiljan Radic was named this year's designer. Inspired by Oscar Wilde's fairy tale Castle of the Selfish Giant, Radic will fashion a shell-like pavilion suspended on boulders. Although Radic has based his design on Wilde's classic fairy tale, we can't help but feel like Radic's proposed structure actually resembles a futuristic space pod.
"Externally, the visitor will see a fragile shell suspended on large quarry stones," said Radic. Inside of the white, fiberglass shell, however will be a patio space. Held up on a bed of rocks, those inside the pavilion will feel like they're floating above the ground.
What makes Radic's design even more unique is that his structure will actually glow in the dark. The light from inside the translucent shell will cause the entire pavilion to glow. "At night, thanks to the semi-transparency of the shell, the amber tinted light will attract the attention of passers-by, like lamps attracting moths," Radic explained.
Radic's pavilion is set to open June 26 in Kensington Gardens and will be there until Oct. 19. It follows Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto and Ai Weiwei and Herzog & de Meuron's iconic summer pavilions. Despite Radic being the youngest and least famous architects commissioned by the Serpentine Gallery since the gallery first launched the program 14 years ago, Radic's pavilion will surely be as epic as his predecessors'.
[via Dezeen]
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