London | Sou Fujimoto to design 2013 Serpentine pavilion

A cloud-like cluster of white steel rods will shimmer above the trees of Kensington Gardens this summer, courtesy of Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto. He has been announced as the latest designer of the Serpentine Gallery's annual pavilion commission and he promises to bring a vision of airy lightness.

Every year the gallery invites a renowned international architect who has not built yet in the UK, to design a temporary pavilion that hosts public activities on the Gallery’s lawn, in London’s Hyde Park between June and October. The list of architects for the past editions includes several Pritzker laureates.

The Japanese architect based in Tokyo established his firm Sou Fujimoto Architects back in 2000. He graduated from the Department of Architecture at the University of Tokyo in 1994, and has been a lecturer at Kyoto University since 2007. With a solid trajectory in residential and cultural projects, the firm has consistently shown a unique and innovative approach to the spatial qualities within his buildings, exploring new ways of housing design, space and materials. Sou was also part of the team that won the Golden Lion at the 13th Venice Biennale, with “Architecture, possible here? Home-for-All”, the Japan pavilion.

His proposal is for a delicate lattice structure of 20mm-thick steel poles, which will form an irregular, shape-shifting mass in front of the gallery, a misty wire-frame blur that will dissolve into the park.

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Image: Sou Fujimoto's proposal for the cloud-like 2013 Serpentine pavilion. | Images: Studio Cyrille Thomas for Sou Fujimoto Architects A cloud-like cluster of white steel rods will shimmer above the trees of Kensington Gardens this summer, courtesy of Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto. He has been announced as the latest designer of the Serpentine Gallery's annual pavilion commission and he promises to bring a vision of airy lightness. A cloud-like cluster of white steel rods will shimmer above the trees of Kensington Gardens this summer, courtesy of Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto. He has been announced as the latest designer of the Serpentine Gallery's annual pavilion commission and he promises to bring a vision of airy lightness.