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Situated at the centre of the London, the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011 brings out the concept of the hortus conclusus, a contemplative room, a garden within a garden. One enters the building from the lawn and begins the transition into the central garden, a place abstracted from the world of noise and traffic and the smells of London - an interior space within which to sit, to walk, to observe the flowers. .

“The building acts as a stage, a backdrop for the interior garden of flowers and light,” - Zumthor.

Zumthor has collaborated with Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf on the design of the 252sq m garden. This will be densely planted with over 30 varieties of shrubs, flowers and grasses, each chosen for its form, texture and color to emphasize the plants’ natural architecture and to evolve as the season changes.

Introduction

Front ElevationSide Elevation

Orthographic Drawings

Floor Plan

Section A-A

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Site Plan NST

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Hierarchy Symmetry & Balance

Circulation

Geometry Section to plan

Subtraction

Light penetration Massing

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1SightThe exterior of the building appears to be a black clad box with six simple rectangular openings along with two of its edges. These openings open into apparent blackness, with no glimpse of the interior of the building from the outside. Visitors enter through doorways staggered along a set of exterior and interior walls, moving from the dark, shadowy hallway into a bright, flower-filled atrium that is open to the sky. Some of the plants were even chosen to add “vertical accents” and act as a screen, alternately obscuring and revealing activity on the opposite side of the atrium

Smell

TouchThe finish to the entire building, roof, walls, flooring are of a black tar like material with scrim to give added texture. This this resembles the mundane routines of people in their everyday lives, who would like to be whisked away to another setting.

Feel SoundOne enters the building from the lawn and begins the transition into the central garden, a place abstracted from the world of noise and traffic and the smells of London. The garden by landscape, which contrasts vividly with the sense of silence that is broken only by the buzz of insects and soft human whisperings

The blooms selected are visually arresting, but not overly fragrant. “Scent attracts bees and insects, so the designers really thought of scent as secondary part of the design.

The pavillion aims to bring nature back into human surroundings and provide the perfect opportunity for people to aims to help its audience take the time to relax, to observe and then, perhaps, start to talk again