Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 155

Roof detail from inside

Exterior with entrance ramp

Detail of the exterior walling

Interior of the restaurant

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Serpentine Gallery Pavilion

Architect Toyo Ito

Engineers and lighting designers Arup

Client Serpentine Gallery

The Pavilion in Kensington Gardens designedby Toyo Ito, can hardly be described as anexercise in daylighting design; however it hasbeen included in the Case Studies, as daylighthas clearly informed the architect’s entiredesign. Perhaps the building is best describedas an ‘abstract work of art.’

The building is the third in a series ofgalleries commissioned to provide a uniqueshowcase for contemporary architecturalpractice, following works by Zaha Hadid, andDaniel Libeskind, to design a pavilion for thegallery’s lawn.

The purpose of the building was basically arestaurant during the day, and it is mostsuccessful in this, with views out on toKensington Gardens, in which there is noneed for artificial lighting.

In the evening the building is described bythe sponsors as playing host to a specialprogramme of summer events, architecturaltalks, film screenings and the BBC poetryproms, all requiring little or no artificiallighting. It can therefore be said that thisproject is entirely naturally lit. It is equallyimportant to recognize that it is an ephemeralbuilding, a ‘statement’ intended to be replacedthe following year; it therefore required noneof the limitations of having to withstand thetest over time.

Since it would be difficult, if not impossible,to describe the pavilion adequately in words,it is best described in a series of photographs,which indicate the quality of the space, andthe way in which it interacts on itssurroundings in the park.

154 Daylighting: Natural Light in Architecture

Exterior with entrance steps

The wall and roof plans

Arup

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