Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2003

Serpentine Gallery Pavilions: Annual Architectural Commissions and Public Programmes

The 2003 Pavilion by Oscar Niemeyer was both simple and ingenious. Built in steel, aluminium, concrete and glass, its ruby-red ramp contrasted with the surprise of a partly submerged auditorium, affording views across the park. It also housed specially conceived wall drawings by Niemeyer. The Pavilion conformed to his principle that every project must be capable of summary in a simple ‘sketch’ and that once the support structure is finished the architecture should be more or less complete.