Frida Escobedo to design 2018 Serpentine Pavilion

Today, the Serpentine Galleries in London announced Mexican architect Frida Escobedo as the designer of the 2018 Serpentine Pavilion, one of the year's most anticipated architectural exhibitions. Born in Mexico City in 1979, Escobedo is the youngest architect by far to design the outdoor pavilion. 

Since 2000, the Serpentine Pavilion has been interpreted in various architectural styles by high-profile architects like Zaha Hadid, Sou Fujimoto, Jean Nouvel, Herzog & de Meuron with Ai Wei Wei, Peter Zumthor, SANAA, Smiljan Radic, SelgasCano, Bjarke Ingels Group, Francis Kéré, and more.

Escobedo's courtyard-based design draws from Mexican domestic architecture and British materials and history, particularly the Prime Meridian line at London’s Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Integrating light, water, and geometry, the Serpentine will be an atmospheric space that is both playful and contemplative. Read on for more details about the pavilion from the Serpentine Galleries, as well as a glimpse at Escobedo's previous work.

“The pavilion will be an enclosed courtyard, comprised of two rectangular volumes positioned at an angle. While the outer walls will be aligned with the Serpentine Gallery’s eastern façade, the axis of the internal courtyard will align directly to the north. Internal courtyards are a common feature of Mexican domestic architecture, while the Pavilion’s pivoted axis refers to the Prime Meridian, which was established in 1851 at Greenwich and became the global standard marker of time and geographical distance.”

“British-made materials will be used, chosen for their dark colors and textured surfaces. A celosia – a traditional breeze wall common to Mexican architecture – will be composed of a lattice of cement roof tiles that diffuse the view out into the park, transforming it into a vibrant blur of greens and blues. 

Two reflecting elements will emphasize the movement of light and shadow inside the Pavilion over the course of the day. The curved underside of the canopy will be clad with mirrored panels, and a triangular pool cast into the Pavilion floor will trace its boundary directly beneath the edge of the roof, along the north axis of the Meridian.”

Founded in Mexico City in 2006, Escobedo's practice has created urban-revival projects that range from housing to community centers to hotels. Some of her notable projects include the Librería del Fondo Octavio Paz and an extension of La Tallera Siqueiros gallery in Cuernavaca.

Escobedo's work has been displayed at the 2012 and 2014 Venice Architecture Biennales, the Lisbon Architecture Triennale in 2013, as well as in San Francisco, London, and New York. Her recent projects include Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and social housing projects in Guerrero and Saltillo in Mexico.

In a statement, Frida Escobedo said: “My design for the Serpentine Pavilion 2018 is a meeting of material and historical inspirations inseparable from the city of London itself and an idea which has been central to our practice from the beginning: the expression of time in architecture through inventive use of everyday materials and simple forms. For the Serpentine Pavilion, we have added the materials of light and shadow, reflection and refraction, turning the building into a timepiece that charts the passage of the day.”

In time for the summer season, the pavilion will be open June 15 through October 7, 2018.