The 2021 Serpentine Pavilion, designed by the Johannesburg–based firm Counterspace, will open to the public on June 11, a year after its originally scheduled debut, which was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Directed by Sumayya Vally, Counterspace is the youngest architecture firm ever selected to design the prestigious commission, now in its 20th year.
Courtesy Counterspace
Counterspace’s Serpentine Pavilion is made from abstract forms and contains a number of architectural nods to places of worship, restaurants, markets, and other gathering spaces that play a part in the lives of London’s migrant communities, according to a Serpentine Galleries press release. Throughout the summer, Counterspace will install pieces of the Pavilion in different London neighborhoods, aiming to pay tribute to its migrant communities and to catalyze interactions between visitors.
“My practice, and this Pavilion, is centered around amplifying and collaborating with multiple and diverse voices from many different histories; with an interest in themes of identity, community, belonging, and gathering,” Vally said in the same release. “The past years had drawn these themes sharply into focus and has allowed me the space to reflect on the incredible generosity of the communities that have been integral to this Pavilion.”
For its 2022 Pavilion, the Serpentine Galleries recently tapped Chicago-based artist and urban planner Theaster Gates as the designer. Although a spokesperson declined to give additional information at this time, the Serpentine is “very excited” to be working with Gates, who is also a professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Visual Arts and the College and the director of several arts initiatives and programs.