History can be traced

Studying from the 2012 Serpentine Pavilion

“As we dig down into the earth to reach the groundwater, we encounter a diversity of constructed realities such as telephone cables, remains of former foundations or backfills. Like a team of archaeologists, we identify these physical fragments as the remains of the eleven Pavilions built between 2000 and 2011” ~ Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, from their Architect's ststement.(http://www.serpentinegallery.org/pavilion2012/pavilion/#architectsstatement)

The 2012 Serpentine Pavilion was designed by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei. It is the twelfth commission in the Gallery's annual series,the world first and most ambitious architectural programme of its kind.The design team are responsible for the Beijing National Stadium,which was built for 2008 Olympic Gname,works together again in this project.

Their path to an alternative solution involves digging down five feet into the soil of the park and incorporate the water underground into their pavilion which they have not expected.What surprised them further is the a diversity of constructed realities, such as telephone cables, remains of former foundations or backfills .Like a archaeologists ,they identify more fragmentsas the remains of the eleven pavilions built between 2000 and 2011. Because of these remaintants,the design team made decisions to design by tracing the hidden history instead of moving it away.

Inspired by the footprints of the previous eleven Pavilions,the designers overlap the previous shapes of the previous eleven Pavilion and extracte the physical fragments of the remains as the foundations ,columes to invent a space combining topography and history. By digging down,the pavilion will invite the vistors neneath the lawn follow the similar circulations and continue to do what the vistors have been doing in the Serpentine Gallery Pavilions over the past eleven years.

The columes extrude from the foundations of each single Pavilion serves as the support system of the
well  which floats a few feet above and helps to collect the rainwater from the sky.The water in the well at the top reflects the park and sky around it and also resembles an archaeological site to invite visitors to trace the history.The pavilion’s interior is clad in cork – a natural material with great haptic and olfactory qualities and the versatility to be carved, cut, shaped and formed. The quality of this interiors materials connects the soil and Pavilion in an continuous way and also illustrated the spirit of Herzog & de Meuron that his dedication to materialization.