First images of SelgasCano's colorful polygonic 2015 Serpentine Pavilion

SelgasCano's design for the 15th annual Serpentine Pavilion has been revealed! The Spanish firm was announced as this year's designers last December, and the pavilion -- which is SelgasCano's first new UK-based structure -- will be installed in London's Kensington Gardens during the summer season.

Illustrated like an endearing children's storybook (The Very Hungry Caterpillar, anyone?), the pavilion's rainbow-colored tunnels look like a promising fun experience that all ages can enjoy.

More details below.

"The design render shows an amorphous, double-skinned, polygonal structure consisting of panels of a translucent, multi-coloured fabric membrane (ETFE) woven through and wrapped in webbing. Visitors will be able to enter and exit the Pavilion at a number of different points, passing through a ‘secret corridor’ between the outer and inner layer of the structure and into the Pavilion’s brilliant, stained glass-effect interior."

In describing their design, José Selgas and Lucía Cano said: "'When the Serpentine invited us to design the Pavilion, we began to think about what the structure needed to provide and what materials should be used in a Royal Park in London. These questions, mixed with our own architectural interests and the knowledge that the design needs to connect with nature and feel part of the landscape, provided us with a concept based on pure visitor experience.

We sought a way to allow the public to experience architecture through simple elements: structure, light, transparency, shadows, lightness, form, sensitivity, change, surprise, colour and materials. We have therefore designed a Pavilion which incorporates all of these elements...'" (continued below)

"'...The spatial qualities of the Pavilion only unfold when accessing the structure and being immersed within it. Each entrance allows for a specific journey through the space, characterised by colour, light and irregular shapes with surprising volumes. This is accomplished by creating a double-layered shell, made of opaque and translucent fluorine-based plastic (ETFE) in a variety of colours.

At the heart of the Pavilion is an open space for gathering as well as a café. We are also very much aware of the Pavilion’s anniversary in our design for the 15th annual commission. The structure therefore had to be – without resembling previous Pavilions – a tribute to them all and a homage to all the stories told within those designs.'"

For the last 15 years, the Serpentine Galleries has invited architects like Sou Fujimoto, Jean Nouvel, Herzog & de Meuron with Ai Wei Wei, Peter Zumthor, SANAA, Zaha Hadid, and most recently Smiljan Radic to design the temporary outdoor structure. The design criteria has remained the same from the start: the pavilion must be a flexible multi-functional social space with a cafe.

Learn more about SelgasCano's previous works here.