Being more like a clearing between trees, SANAA’s pavilion will be ‘like a space in the park’ and a meeting place, says Kazuyo Sejima, co-founder of SANAA. A mirror-polished, amoeba shaped aluminum roof, is held aloft on randomly placed, slender columns. The roof undulates, descending in parts almost to the ground. The Pavilion without walls has a squiggle of Plexiglass around an auditorium to provide shelter from the driving winds that are usually a feature of the British summer.
The stunning pavilion created by Sejima and Nishizawa resembles a reflective cloud or a floating pool of water, sitting atop a series of delicate columns. The metal roof structure varies in height, wrapping itself around the trees in the park, reaching up towards the sky and sweeping down almost to the ground in various places. Open and ephemeral in structure, its reflective materials make it sit seamlessly within the natural environment, reflecting both the park and sky around it.
Ryue Nishizawa, co-founder of SANAA, adds that this is not a big statement building but more about transparency. Sponsored by NetJets Europe, the Pavilion will be the architects’ first built structure in the UK and the ninth commission in the Gallery’s annual series of Pavilions.
The Pavilion will be open to public till October 18, 2009.
