The Serpentine Experience

For this entry I am focusing on the Serpentine Pavilion in Hyde Park.  I chose to focus on this example of Media Architecture because I am fascinated by the idea of temporary architecture.

Beginning in 2000, the pavilion has been completed yearly by famous architects and open to the public for only part of the year.  Since there have been 11 completed pavilions, I am only focusing on 2 specific structures.  The first structure I will focus on I think needed the most improvement.  The second I appreciated the most over the13 year span of the pavilion.

I did not find the 2005 pavilion completed by Alvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura with Cecil Balmond as compelling as the other projects in Hyde Park.  The project was completed with interlocking timbers and using tessellation as a solution to form.   The interior and exterior of the project do not have any harmony.  The outside appears more like an open cardboard box, while the interior is a very defined space that appears to be curing to the ground.  The wood and additional materials do not extend completely to the ground on the longest part of the structure allowing those outside to see in to the space.  I think an open roof would have been more successful in uniting the interior space with the park as opposed to the open base of the wall.  I think the space is lost somewhere between the outdoors and indoors rather than being a harmonious space uniting both.  The pavilion appears very successful, but when compared to other structures for example, Frank Gehry's 2008 structure, or Toyo Ito and Arup's 2002 structure, it lacks a strong design identity.

Sally Tallant's photograph showing the gap in the lower exterior wall

interior of structure with grid form

My favorite pavilion is the 2011 project designed by Peter Zumthor.  I was first drawn to this pavilion because of it's internal garden.  After studying more images of the space, I began to visualize entering the space.  The architect's use of pathways is unique.  Rather than having a entry to connect directly to the garden the user is forced to fully enter the structure and find the other doors leading to the center.  These offset doors beautifully brings natural light in to the structure and gives a sense of direction.  Once stumbling upon the courtyard the user can find the hidden garden.  Beautifully contrasting the very naturalistic and large scale landscape outside the structure, large, old trees: the native garden appears a bit chaotic and out of place.  The scale of the plants and unique attributes of each plant, however, are perfect for the space.  The plants chosen fill the space but are not so tall or overgrown that the overwhelm and overtake the space.

John Offenbach's image of the interior hall naturally light by the doorways.

Image of the interior garden with native vegetation

Images of cutting of roof tilt, promenade, and interior courtyard

I look forward to seeing images of the completed 2013 structure.

What Makes a Pavilion Successful?

by Tyler Norton

What makes a pavilion successful? This is a question that has been on my mind as we work on our projects in studio. In class, we studied pavilions as a form of temporary architecture. However, my group members and I are including a permanent pavilion at the top of one of our structures. I feel that since our pavilion will be permanent, there is more pressure for it to be well designed. Therefore, I wanted to utilize this post to study a few good examples of successful pavilions.

            To me, a pavilion represents a gathering space above all else. Whether it hosts seating, an event, a restaurant, a gallery, or in the case of the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, no function at all, a pavilion will always provide a space for people to congregate. If for nothing else, these three pavilions are successful because they shape space in a way that is interesting, inviting, and innovative. This attracts people to gather there to appreciate the space.

            The 2009 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion by SANAA was meant to amplify the way people experience things, be it through sound, sight, or feeling. The concept and form was based on summer and nature since it was to host the annual summer party. SANAA strove for it to be a light and airy structure and I think that it was very successful because it accomplished the preset goal and it blended the boundaries between outdoors and in, which is another prominent theme in SANAA’s designs. Another project that focused on summer was Zaha Hadid’s 2007 Serpentine Pavilion, which was only there for a week to host the summer party. The main goal of the pavilion was to provide shelter to the party. It serves to shelter the pavilion from sun during the day and at night it provides light from lights that are underneath and travel up the veins of the fabric. Air, light, and fabric are all able to travel through the three structures and the light that travels through is meant to “highlight the geometric intricacy of the pavilion” with it’s light play. I think that this pavilion was very successful because it provided an interesting gathering place, which was its function. The final pavilion that I’d like to talk about it is Mies Van Der Rohe’s German Pavilion. The concept behind this project was to “give voice to the spirit of a new era” in Germany. In other words it was intended to be a self-portrait of the new Germany. It’s a very simple form with extravagant materials create an open plan that serve to suggest a “floating form.” I find this very successful because its openness perfectly symbolizes what was intended.

            All in all, I have come to the conclusion that each pavilion is different. These are all successful but in different ways.  Each one sets out to accomplish something different and each one does. As long as a pavilion accomplished the pre defined goal it can be very successful and interesting. 

Tailoring Spaces to the Human Proportion

By: Tyler Norton

            Le Corbusier’s Modulor Man is a well-known principal within the architecture community. The aspect of his theory that I want to focus on is not related so much to combining scales as it is to the proportions of a human body. In the two examples reflected upon in this post, the human dimension is clearly taken into great consideration when planning each space. Even though Gustafson’s Memorial Fountain for Lady Diana is a very large space, and Zumthor’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion is a very small one, each make guests feel welcome and comfortable. Every space, regardless of size, should be tailored to the proportions of the individuals it is created for.

            Without even seeing Lady Diana’s Memorial Fountain, you know that it is going to be a large space because it is located in Hyde Park in London. The fountain itself is located in a sizable open field within the park and is surrounded by grass and foliage. According to the royal parks’ website, the fountain was designed to symbolize her life, quality, openness, and most importantly, her love for children and warm attitude toward people in general. This last symbolism is most important because with this in mind, the fountain was designed not just in her honor, but also with the people she left behind in mind. Essentially it was designed to engage people and for them to feel comfortable in. Gustafson did a wonderful job of taking a large and open space, which otherwise may have been considered overwhelming, and molding it to fit a space where people can interact easily. Examples of this are readily apparent anyone trained in design. The sides, which frequently serve as benches, are proportioned perfectly to the human physique. The interior part of the circle divides the large field up into smaller nodes so that the inside space of the ring feels much more intimate. The shapes of the contours inside the fountain are intriguing and inviting to the human eye and are proportioned in a way to comfortably fit an average sized adult as well as a small child. Nothing in this section of the park feels overwhelming or too open.

         In direct contrast to the last example, Zumthor’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion is a very small and confined space. However, Zumthor still manages to design according to human proportions just as gracefully as Gustafson. In fact, because of the small and intimate setting, it may have been even easier for Zumthor. The site, located in the Serpentine Gardens in London, is a small black structure that from the outside appears completely closed in, but has a partially open ceiling. As with the Memorial Fountain, the ways in which Zumthor proportioned his structure to human dimensions can be studied effortlessly.    In each entrance, the doors are comfortably spaced and the heights and widths are also of comfortable proportions. Even the height of the building, which is taller than the interior roof, is not overwhelming, nor does it make anyone feel diminished. As previously mentioned, the interior roof of the building is fairly low but not so low that it makes anyone feel cramped or clustered. Inside the structure, there is plenty of seating space and each space is designed with the human body in mind as well. All in all, the space creates a perfect balance between intimate and confining.

           

http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/hyde_park/diana_memorial.cfm

Gardens of the Age

By Seth Oliver

                “What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson. Gardens have transformed over the centuries into more pieces of art for public use rather than private. These landscaped features can be compilations of many materials to form miniature, condensed and sculptural pieces in themselves. Gardens can have architectural elements surrounding them but also have the plants be the architecture. The dichotomy of this ideology has come about in different ways. A few in particular that follow the notion of structure around the focal pieces are the Tanner Spring Park and Park Westergasfabriek. A few that counter this and have the focal pieces be the gardens are represented in the Serpentine Pavilion and the Lincoln Center Roof Garden.

                Architecture to contain the wild is a path to showcase the natural environment in a way that is controlled with the illusion of frivolity. Tanner Spring Park makes a miniature of an ecological process of the cleansing water. From the rough hills to the edge of the pond, the plants and landscape dominate the scene. The paths are placed on top of the show off the piece of the natural elements. It is almost as if floating above it is to admire the process at work below the bridges. The Culture Park of Westergasfabriek also fosters the idea of paths added to nature, but isolates most of the nature to preserve them from Human interaction. A visual stimulus rather than a physical one. This park also displays the cleansing of the water, but from a distance. The other difference would be the large pool at the very end of the park that engages the public. Tanner Spring Park engages people from the trails and the earth but the Culture Park of Westergasfabriek engages people from the water. Many other gardens have followed these ideas of displaying nature, but these two are of the ends of the spectrum and very unique.

                On the contrary, more modern gardens have popped up as pieces of architecture as well as natural wonders. The Serpentine Pavilion in London by Peter Zumthor and Piet Oudolf was literally a box. The dark corridors of the ambulatory surrounding the garden were completely articulated. Not only the structure, but also the pants were specifically cultivated for the height and color. Giving the illusion of wild and natural but in reality it is all planned and carefully calculated. The plants became a part of the architecture. They were integral in filling a void of the inner rectangle and shaped the experience within. The Lincoln Center Roof Garden uses plants as a building material as well. The sections of the field, pond and forest all became three separate “buildings.” The roof of the first is a vast slope of grass. The pond is a reflective rectangle flush with the ground. And the forest is a composition of the grid lined trees to shape a box building outline. All three are individual pieces of the same sculpture, but all add a different aspect of the personality of the space. This idea incorporates the city into the garden rather than the garden into the city. Blending the spaces into a modern take on the “garden” and to push the limit of what materials can be used to create architecture and landscape.

                The designing of garden spaces still centers on the public experience. This has not changed for centuries. The new gardens try to blend the materials of the featured pieces and the structures that frame them. The realization of materiality and how to use it is key to successfully composing a landscape for the modern world. Whether the flora is the main attraction, or just a thread in the fabric, gardens are pushing the boundaries of the norm further than ever before.  

Serpentine Gallery and Princess Diana Memorial Fountain: Thresholds That Speak

Thresholds That Speak

By Rachel Gamble

         In every public outdoor space, there exists some form of entrance. This threshold is the break in the border between the natural and urban textures, and plays a vital role in the experience of a visitor within a park or garden. It establishes the mood of the visitor towards the space inside and prepares him mentally for the rest of the space. An entry point into a garden or park can be literal – a physical entry point such as a gate – or implied – a figurative entrance caused by subtle design details like a slight opening in a row of trees, or even a difference between grass and the surrounding urban pavement. Through the entry point, landscape designers like Kathryn Gustafson and Piet Oudolf can communicate much about the rest of their designs.

The number and style of entries points, for instance, can be very telling, and are design features that a landscape designer can use to create first impressions for the rest of the space. A garden like that of Piet Oudolf in the Serpentine Gallery – one that is surrounded by a protective wall, broken up selectively in spots – suggests perhaps a secluded park for only a few people. On the other hand, a space like Kathryn Gustafson’s Princess Diana memorial has no clear border or entrance and implies an open landscape with uninhibited circulation that will not restrict the users inside to only one path but instead allows them to wander freely. Additionally, the entrance can say much, stylistically, about the space within. A carefully enclosed park could perhaps suggest a cultivated and orderly space, while a park with no entrances could indicate a more natural and less humanized landscape. A closer glance at Oudolf and Gustafon’s landscapes reveal clearly that the ways in which you arrive in the park can paint a telling picture of what is inside.

         The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park is an example of a public urban space that takes its entrance into careful account. The memorial has no entrance or clear border but blends and merges with the park surrounding it harmoniously. Its designer, Kathryn Gustafson, wanted the space “to be accessible and to reflect Diana's 'inclusive' personality” (BBC News). Thus, visitors are encouraged to wade right into the shallow water to reach the center of the circular fountain – reminiscent of how Princess Diana was a very warm and open person and welcomed everyone. Free of walls, gates, or railings, the space encourages people to walk into and through the park on their own volition.

The entrance to the Princess Diana memorial stands in clear contrast to Piet Oudolf's garden at the Serpentine Gallery pavilion, in which user circulation is heavily restricted. The Princess Diana memorial is unobtrusively integrated with what already exists in its site, whereas the Serpentine Gallery pavilion introduces a new dimension to the site in which its sits. This garden is meant to be arrived at sequentially and not directly. It is enclosed on all sides by Peter Zumthor’s pavilion. To reach Oudolf’s garden at the center, visitors must enter through small doorways in the bare pavilion walls and wind through the dark corridors until they reach the open-roofed courtyard space inside. By being hidden from all sides with only a few strategically placed entrances, a meditative, cloister-like space is produced. Visitors enter through dark, claustrophobic spaces, and thus the open garden inside becomes all the more beautiful once the visitors arrive at it.

In these two landscapes, we see how the periphery and entry points of a site can play an important factor in the way a visitor interacts with the rest of the space inside. It is at the entry point that an urban landscape becomes a natural one and that a visitor establishes his first impression of the space. The entry point also reflects the circulation through the rest of the site. As such, designers should carefully consider what they want to say with the edge of their outdoor space

Princess Di Memorial: No Borders

Serpentine Pavilion: Center Garden Enclosed

Sources

"Queen Unveils New Diana Fountain." BBC News, 2004. Web. 7 Sep. 2012 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3866863.stm>