SERPENTINE PAVILION 2017 BY DIÉBÉDO FRANCIS KÉRÉ
I recently made my way to London to see
this year’s Serpentine Pavilion. I’ve visited the last couple of Pavilions as I
mentioned in the previous
one I reviewed, it’s clearly something that has been installed in me ever
since my uni days where I first learnt about the program. We were always
encouraged to visit and analyze the space. Also it is interesting to see the
architect/designers scheme for temporary public spaces.
This year, architect Diébédo Francis Kéré
has been commissioned to design the pavilion that resides in front of the
Serpentine Galleries in South Kensington. The Serpentine
Pavilion started back in the year 2000. It is a temporary space that a
designer is commissioned to create for the public to use throughout the British
summertime.
Before visiting the space I purposely avoided
reading too much about the Pavilion in interviews and reviews online until
after my visit. That way I can take it in for what it is and make an honest
judgment from my own experience.
To change the approach ever so slightly, this blog post is
a part of Design Blogger Competition organized by CGTrader who
ask the question “Designing for the
future: what are the trends we need to consider now?” I thought I would respond
to this question with the elements of design I’ve taken into consideration thereafter
my visit to the seventeenth Serpentine Pavilion by award winning architect Diébédo Francis Kéré. I hope you
can learn something from this post.
Enjoy!
Walking towards the Pavilion nobody can miss the rich indigo blue colour that surrounds the central structured oversized canopy. I was not sure why the carefully staggered yet stacked blocks of wood, were stained blue, however I was sure there was a motive behind it. I later learnt that the indigo blue colour symbolizes ‘celebration’ in the culture of certain ethnic groups in Gando, Burkina Faso, the country in West Africa that architect Kéré originates from. He explains in his press release that the people of Gando will traditionally wear this colour in celebration and in attendance of important occasions and ceremonies.
I tried to walk around the exterior of the pavilion before entering the space but the first passageway I saw lured me in. Inside, the interior involved two areas. An outer circle where most members of the public circulate on the inside walls of the protruding indigo blue facades which curve in a circular motion before its interrupted by another passage way. The second is the inner circle that is created in a stem rooted style with the steel structured framework that stands firmly in the midpoint holding the timber roofing that wondrously creates an elevated zone.
Within this open-air circumference in the center
of the space that attracts the most natural lighting, were a few fixed seated
blocks adding another dimension to the space.
I commend
how the architect has created a multipurpose
space in the same build. For example, the two separated spaces within the
interior, to the material matching seat benches on both the assembled façade and
interior of the blue stained partitioning walls. Diébédo displays the integrity
of being resourceful with the use of
one main material that is wood.
“Wooden shading elements line the underside of the roof to
create a dynamic shadow.”- Diébédo
Francis Kéré.
It is not until you are in the space that
you realize, every gap between each material used to create the shelter has
been strategically thought through. As I
looked above and observed the detailed paneling of the over hanging canopy, the
voids between the material that creates a shelter replicated the idea of the
spaces between the leaves that filter light when standing beneath a tree
looking up above. The idea of feeling
exposed yet protected at the very same time. That is when Kere’s concept of people
gather under the tree suddenly clicked into place in my mind. Simple but it works. The space
allows sunlight to enter whilst
also protecting it from the water. Just
as I was about to leave the temporary summer pavilion it began to rain, I then
saw the design of the roof that “becomes a funnel channeling water into the heart of the
structure” live
in action as the rain falls off the slanted translucent material in a waterfall
effect. Nature doing what it does best,
nurturing the space and its people.
The way Diébédo
Francis has entwined nature and the people with his creation leads me to believe
that his own journey, upbringing and memories have been heavily influenced by
the two factors I consider to be trends when designing. That is nature and the community. The pavilion is able to serve its purpose as a meeting
point in whatever weather condition. Kéré makes it no secret that the aim behind
the pavilion is for the visitors to have not only human interaction with one
another yet to also have an immediate connection to nature and our everyday surroundings.
Kéré explains how the sentimental aspects
of a Tree were the source of inspiration. I his native town of Gando, the tree
is the center point and gathering space for everyone in the community. I admire
how Kéré has subtly reproduced the notion of a tree and transported his
experiences of his life in his hometown in Gando, Burkino Faso here in London.
So what do we as designers, as people need
to take into consideration when
designing for the future? Kéré has broken it down for us, or do I speak for
myself when I say his recent work has made my answer to the question crystal
clear? Ask yourself, What are the two things we have once you strip everything
else society has to offer away? The
answer is nature and community.
These factors should be at the forefront of
all designers mind in the process of anything they are creating. 1. How is the
design affecting nature and your environment? 2. What impact is has on a
community?
These are the trends we need to consider
now whilst designing for the future.
We are our best selves with these
fundamentals. Two of the most underrated luxuries we are fortunate to have and inhabit.
1. Nature
2. Community
All Images by Yasmin Metz-Johnson
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