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19 September 2009

London Belongs to Me (again) - part three

So, I am still in the park, well parks, because I have now crossed over the road to Kensington Gardens to see: 

Title

the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009 . . . 

Reflect
This is a structure that makes me positively joyful. Designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Rue Nishizawa of the Japanese architectural practice SANAA, this is a structure that is all about movement and curves and light and reflection, which not only blends into its surroundings; it disappears into them. But is never lost.

It's for standing under:

Stand
and sitting under:

Sit
even the chairs are pretty cool:

Chair
Sheer brilliance. 

Curve
More about this year's structure and the history of the annual Serpentine Gallery Pavilion here.

With all eyes on the Pavilion, it's easy to miss this, or rather these:

Ihf
a section of one of eight stone benches, set in two groups of four in front of the curved hedges that flank the gallery. This is the other memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales; not the problematic fountain that everyone made such a fuss about. These benches are quieter, more contemplative, and were designed by Ian Hamilton Finlay as a memorial to the gallery's late patron. 

Pow

Who could forget the night she turned up at the gallery wearing the revenge dress?

Posted at 12:00 PM in Angels in the architecture, Up in the city |

Comments

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I love that pavilion. One of the things I miss about city living is the breadth of places to visit. Having said that I'm taking my youngest to a local exhibition today and then to a continental food market in the Pavilion Gardens. So, I shouldn't moan too much, but like buses, they all come at once...

Posted by: Rattling On | 19 September 2009 at 11:17 AM

Great photos. I had been wondering myself how best to capture the sinousness of the pavilion. You've managed it very well. And I'm a big fan of IHF too.

Posted by: colleen | 19 September 2009 at 12:08 PM

Oh! Fab! I had seen something about this a month or so ago and forgotten about it. Must, must, must get a trip to London fitted in this autumn.

Posted by: Moira | 19 September 2009 at 06:28 PM

Clearly, we "did" Hyde Park too quickly last spring! Never mind, we're already planning for the next visit . . .

Posted by: materfamilias | 19 September 2009 at 09:47 PM

The comments to this entry are closed.

Thought for life

  • The House of Breath, William Goyen
    We are the carriers of lives and legends - who knows the unseen frescoes on the private walls of the skull?

Thinking about . . .

  • Daniel Klein, Travels with Epicurus
    I too listen to music more and more. Throughout my life, music has stirred me more than any other art form, and now, in old age, I find myself listening to it almost every evening, usually alone, for hours at a time.
  • Julia Blackburn, Thin Paths
    I began writing because I liked to write things down. I learnt foreign languages because they seemed to enter my head by a process of osmosis.
  • Joan Bakewell, Stop the Clocks
    I live contentedly alone. It's better that way and I am often thoughtful about what has been and what might have been. There are many like me.
  • Patti Smith, M Train
    Oh to be reborn within the pages of a book.
  • Patti Smith, M Train
    Why is it that we lose the things we love, and things cavalier cling to us and will be the measure of our worth after we’re gone?
  • Judith Kerr, Observer Magazine, 22 November 2015
    I don't believe in God. I find it much easier to believe in ancestors. I like to imagine they are pointing us in the right direction.

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