Three years after getting the nod from The Royal Parks, the Serpentine will finally open its new Serpentine Sackler Gallery this Saturday, a Grade II*-listed building located a stone's throw from the original gallery in Hyde Park.
Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid has transformed the interior of the Magazine building - a 200-year-old former gunpowder store - and added a curvaceous new extension as a contemporary counterpoint. The new space will bring some 900 sq m to the gallery's footprint, and will house the Magazine restaurant along with an exhibition space and function rooms.
Hadid rendered her classic curves in a soft and gentle fashion for the new annex in order to respect the neo-classical original. 'We wanted to use a new materiality,' says the architect, who opted for a PTFE coated, glass-fibre woven fabric membrane for the exterior skin. 'It looks temporary but is actually attached to the [existing] building in a really light way.'
The gallery has a long-held relationship with the UK-based architect, who designed the first of its annual summer Serpentine Gallery Pavilions in 2000. 'We wanted to work with her again for many reasons - primarily because she has no realised [permanent] buildings in Central London and she is one of the most distinguished architects working today,' says Serpentine Gallery director Julia Peyton-Jones. 'She married the old and the new extraordinarily.'
Hans Ulrich Obrist, co-director of exhibitions and programmes, adds: 'The German art historian Erwin Panofsky said that we invent the future out of fragments of the past, and that is exactly what is happening here.'
The existing structure's careful restoration was spearheaded by the Serpentine and Hadid, in partnership with The Royal Parks, while the landscaping around it was created by landscape designer Arabella Lennox-Boyd.
The new and existing galleries will work together to host a programme of art exhibitions - the first of which is a solo show of the work of Argentinian artist Adrián Villar Rojas, who creates monumental pieces in concrete, wood, steel and clay. 'Adrian wanted to develop a project where he really embraces the building's contradictions, the old and the new, the future and the past, the different traditions of the building,' says Jochen Volz, head of programmes at the gallery. Meanwhile, the original Serpentine building will be hosting the first solo exhibition in a UK public institution of Italian artist Marisa Merz.
This new addition to Hyde Park is named after Dr Mortimer and Dame Theresa Sackler, whose foundation supported the project with the largest single gift received by the Gallery in its 43-year history.
Opening to the public on Saturday, the Serpentine Sackler Gallery will secure some 900 sq m of much-needed space for the London gallery, and will be home to The Magazine restaurant, as well as exhibition space and function rooms
The original neo-classical building's careful restoration was spearheaded by the Serpentine and Hadid, in partnership with The Royal Parks
Hadid's classic curves are rendered in a soft and gentle fashion for the extension in order to respect the Grade II* listed original building
'We wanted to use a new materiality,' says the architect, who opted for a PTFE coated, glass-fibre woven fabric membrane on the outside of the structure. 'It looks temporary but is actually attached to the [existing] building in a really light way'
The curvaceous interior of the new extension
The Magazine restaurant
The interior of the renovated 1805 building
Hyde Park's new gallery is named after Dr Mortimer and Dame Theresa Sackler, whose Foundation supported the project with the largest single gift received by the Gallery in its 43-year history.
ADDRESS
Serpentine Sackler Gallery
West Carriage Drive
Kensington Gardens
London W2 2AR
-
16Arlington’s Marco Capaldo on ‘turning up the volume’ with an A/W 2025 collection rooted in 1980s cinemaRevealed at an intimate dinner at London Fashion Week, 16Arlington designer Marco Capaldo found inspiration for an amped-up A/W 2025 collection in David Lynch’s ‘Blue Velvet’, Wim Wenders’ ‘Paris, Texas’ and Robert Palmer’s ‘Addicted to Love’ video
-
High low culture and the sickly sweetness of Tootsie Rolls: Derrick Adams in LondonDerrick Adams plays with themes of Black Americana in ‘Situation Comedy’ at Gagosian London.
-
Lamborghini, fast friends with the Italian State Police for two decadesWhen the Italian police need to be somewhere fast, they turn to a long-running partnership with one of the country’s most famed sports car manufacturers, Lamborghini
-
High low culture and the sickly sweetness of Tootsie Rolls: Derrick Adams in London
Derrick Adams plays with themes of Black Americana in ‘Situation Comedy’ at Gagosian London.
-
The Barbican as muse: composer Shiva Feshareki on bringing the brutalist icon to life through musicFor the last two years, British-Iranian experimental composer and turntablist Shiva Feshareki has been drawing on the Barbican’s hidden history as a gateway for her new piece. She talks to Wallpaper* about her Brutalist muse
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been doing this weekA taste of the dolce vita in London, some permanent artwork and a new eyeshadow palette – it's our editors' picks of the week
-
'We need to be constantly reminded of our similarities' – Jonathan Baldock challenges the patriarchal roots of a former Roman temple in LondonThrough use of ceramics and textiles, British artist Jonathan Baldock creates a magical and immersive exhibition at ‘0.1%’ at London's Mithraum Bloomberg Space
-
Discover Rotimi Fani-Kayode's fluid photographs of the queer male body, on show in London‘Rotimi-Fani Kayode: The Studio – Staging Desire’ at Autograph ABP celebrates the work of the Nigerian-born photographer
-
Saatchi Gallery is in full bloom with floral works from Vivienne Westwood, Marimekko, Buccellati and more‘Flowers – Flora in Contemporary Art & Culture’ at Saatchi Gallery, London, explores the relationship between creatives and their floral muses, and spans from fashion and jewellery to tattoos
-
'I want to get into these images and perfume them': Linder's retrospective opens at the Hayward Gallery'Linder: Danger Came Smiling' gathers fifty years of the artist's work at the Hayward Gallery. We meet the punk provocateur ahead of her first retrospective
-
Tasneem Sarkez's heady mix of kitsch, Arabic and Americana hits LondonArtist Tasneem Sarkez draws on an eclectic range of references for her debut solo show, 'White-Knuckle' at Rose Easton
