Korean architect Minsuk Cho has been named as the designer of this year’s pavilion in London.
Serpentine Pavilion 2024 designed by Minsuk Cho, Mass Studies. Design render, exterior view. Photo © Mass Studies. Courtesy: Serpentine.
Korean architect Minsuk Cho, who heads up Seoul-based studio, Mass Studies, has been announced as the designer of the 2024 Serpentine Pavilion. The 23rd edition of the programme, the pavilion, as always, will be erected in Hyde Park and unveiled on Wednesday 5th June.
The pavilion has been given the name “Archipelagic Void,” and features five ‘islands’ that feed off from a circular courtyard in the centre. Forming a star shape in plan, Cho’s concept sees a void characterised by flexible structures, raised upon plinths on the outer edges, with each looking to engage with the park’s ecology. The central circular void formed in the middle evokes a Korean ‘madang’ (마당) – a word which translates literally to “yard” and in Korean culture, is typically used to describe a multi-functioning cultural space, the traditional hub for a Korean village’s activities. In Hyde Park, meanwhile, Cho’s madang will provide space for a variety of programming and activities throughout the summer.
Serpentine Pavilion 2024 designed by Minsuk Cho, Mass Studies. Design render, exterior view. Photo © Mass Studies. Courtesy: Serpentine.
Each island will serve a distinct purpose. The largest will be an auditorium, which extends 20 metres towards the Serpentine Gallery, which will double-up as a events and gathering space, capable of hosting 200 people. Another will be a gallery, which will also serve as the pavilion’s primary entrance.
Other islands will operate as library, providing a moment of calm and respite and a tea house, which pays homage to the site’s historical role as a tea pavilion. “There was a requirement for a place to serve coffee,” Cho told the Guardian. “But we want to get people back into drinking tea – that was the original use of the Serpentine’s building, after all.” Finally, the fifth island will be a ‘play tower’ which will include orange netting on either side of its timber form which rises to a peak.
“We began by asking what can be uncovered and added to the Serpentine site, which has already explored over 20 iterations at the centre of the lawn, from a roster of great architects and artists,” said Minsuk Cho in a statement. “To approach this new chapter differently, instead of viewing it as a carte blanche, we embraced the challenge of considering the many existing peripheral elements while exploring the centre as a void. It also begins to address the history of the Serpentine Pavilion. By inverting the centre as a void, we shift our architectural focus away from the built centre of the past, facilitating new possibilities and narratives.”
Minsuk Cho, Mass Studies. © Photo by Mok Jungwook.
“We are honoured to present Minsuk Cho’s first structure on UK soil here at Serpentine as our next architecture Pavilion, opening this summer,” added Bettina Korek, chief executive, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, artistic director, Serpentine.
“Titled ‘Archipelagic Void,’ Cho’s Pavilion is modular by nature, composed of individual structures that serve specific functions, yet which also come together as a continuous unit. Serpentine is deeply grateful to our loyal partners and supporters for enabling Minsuk Cho’s multifaceted concept to become a reality, and for sustaining the Pavilion each year as a model for exploring innovative ideas in architecture.”
The pavilion will be open to the public until 27 October 2024.
