Monday 10 February 2020

Serpentine Pavillion 2020 architects showcase role of green building materials

This year's Serpentine Pavilion will be built from a range of environmentally-friendly materials, including recycled construction and demolition waste.

The temporary architectural installation in Kensington Gardens will be designed and created by Johannesburg-based Counterspace, directed by Sumayya Vally, Sarah de Villiers and Amina Kaskar.

In its construction, they plan to use a variety of sustainable materials, including cork, which can be harvested without cutting down trees, and K-Briqs, which generate just a tenth of the carbon dioxide emissions of traditional fired bricks.

The structure is said to be inspired by places where people gather together in London, particularly those in migrant communities.

Sumayya Vally, Lead Architect on the project, said: “The pavilion is itself conceived as an event – the coming together of a variety of forms from across London over the course of the pavilion’s sojourn.

“These forms are imprints of some of the places, spaces and artefacts which have made care and sustenance part of London’s identity. The breaks, gradients and distinctions in colour and texture between different parts of the pavilion make this reconstruction and piecing together legible at a glance."