For its 25th edition, the Serpentine Pavilion commissioned LANZA atelier, the Mexico City-based practice founded by Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo, whose design, a serpentine, is rooted in one of England’s most ingenious architectural forms: the crinkle-crankle wall.
The design is spectacular in its modesty. Its winding brick wall curves across the lawn at Serpentine South, borrowing its name both from this historic garden structure and from the nearby lake. The form is not just decorative, but structurally brilliant. The crinkle-crankle wall is gains stability from its undulation while using fewer bricks than a straight wall. In LANZA atelier’s hands, it becomes both boundary and invitation, an architecture of pause, movement and discovery.
Exterior and interior view (design renders) of the Serpentine Pavilion 2026 by LANZA atelier. © LANZA atelier. Courtesy Serpentine.
For Abascal, the question of how a body inhabits space is not abstract. Her research into birth and caregiving has led her to think of architecture “not as an object to be observed, but as an environment that welcomes bodies, movement and human connection.” She links this to the profoundly atmospheric conditions of birth itself, where light, gravity, intimacy and proximity become fundamental. That sensibility carries into a serpentine, which is conceived not as a fixed route, but as a sequence of invitations. Visitors may cross through it, rest within it, move around it, touch it, listen to it, or simply allow the space to reveal itself slowly.
The Pavilion has been designed for movement. The crinkle-crankle wall greets visitors on arrival, while a long curving brick bench invites passers-by to sit, turning the edge of the Pavilion into a place of gathering. From the outside, the structure hints at an interior without immediately giving it away. As visitors approach, what first appears solid begins to dematerialise: stacked bricks form slim columns, small gaps open between them, and the wall becomes permeable. Inside, an enfilade of delicate brick columns draws the eye towards Serpentine South Gallery, while the translucent roof filters natural light, allowing the interior to change throughout the day as shadows move across the brickwork like a living painting.
Brick gives the Pavilion its warmth and tactility. Chosen partly in conversation with the brick façade of Serpentine South, originally built as a tea pavilion, the material lends the project a sense of continuity. A second wall responds to the surrounding tree canopy, while the roof rests lightly above the brick columns, allowing air and light to pass through. The overall effect is that of a permeable space for gathering, movement and public life.
Left: Conceptual sketch (worm’s eye view) of the Serpentine Pavilion 2026 by LANZA atelier. © LANZA atelier. Courtesy Serpentine.
Right: LANZA atelier, chairs for 4 couples dining set, 2020. Photo: Fernando Ocaña.
Alessandro Arienzo sees the crinkle-crankle wall as a type rich with intelligence rather than a historical curiosity. “Our work often begins with studying architectural types,” he explains, “not as fixed historical forms, but as repositories of accumulated knowledge that can be reinterpreted for the present.” For him, the wall’s appeal lies in the way it achieves “structural efficiency, spatial richness and material economy through its smart geometry.” There is also a pleasing linguistic and symbolic loop: serpentine names a wall, a lake and a place. For architects working from Mexico, where the serpent holds a powerful place in Mesoamerican cosmology, the coincidence adds another layer of resonance. As Arienzo notes, this is the first Serpentine Pavilion to truly revolve around the serpentine.
LANZA atelier also designed the chairs and stools for the Pavilion, made locally in sapele hardwood, continuing their belief that furniture and architecture belong to the same conversation, simply at different scales.
The studio’s process is equally grounded. For this project, Abascal and Arienzo worked through hundreds of hand drawings, pencil studies, models, samples and full-scale mock-ups. Drawing, for them, is not presentation but thought. “As architects we should be able to build less and simpler,” they say. “For us, the drawing is as important as the building.” That attitude gives a serpentine its clarity. Simplicity here is not a lack of ambition, but the result of refinement.
Rolex’s new role as Official Timepiece of the Serpentine Pavilion adds another layer to the commission’s cultural significance. The partnership feels particularly apt: a project built around precision, craft, material intelligence and long-term cultural value, supported by a brand increasingly invested in architecture through its wider Perpetual Arts Initiative.
Trade the city rush for dappled light and park views: London’s most inspiring summer pop-up is here.
Serpentine Pavilion 2026, a serpentine
Serpentine South, London
6 June – 25 October
More information and tickets, HERE.
Author: Julia Pasarón
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