In recent years the emphasis of the Serpentine Summer Pavilion design has been increasingly focused on ecological thinking, sustainable materials and flexible forms. The 2024 pavilion by South Korean architect Minsuk Cho, designed mostly in locally sourced timber, exemplifies this trend. The open-plan form allows for a creative approach in how space is used and divided. It’s a delightful formal exploration, which echoes in poetic ways the previous pavilions.
If you missed visiting the pavilion, here you can explore the space through this virtual tour, provided by archi.tours
As founder of Studio Mumbai, Indian architect Bijoy Jain works with his team at the intersection of art, craft, architecture and design. His artisan-like method is well-known to be a slow working process, challenging the demands of technological production, where robotics and AI have been adopted for increased efficiency. Bijoy Jain collaborates with local craftsmen, exploring the potential and true spirit embedded in different materials. The exhibition at Fondation Cartier in Paris aims to show the interconnections between art and philosophy underpinning the Studio Mubai practice.
Chris Dercon, the new director of Fondation Cartier, links Bijoy Jain’s production to a trajectory of Indian design and architecture that was inspired by Charles and Ray Eames’ The India Report. The Eameses were invited by the Indian government in 1958 to find out how to strengthen the country’s craft-based traditions and small-scale industries. The report led to the establishment of the National Institute of Design (NID), which Dercon sees as a turning point.
Bijoy Jain has received many awards, for example the Alvar Aalto Medal in 2020. His interest towards traditional craftsmanship is expressed through a simplicity and fragility in the handling of materials showcased in the exhibition space designed by Jean Nouvel. Completed in 1991 the Fondation Cartier is one of Paris’ best-known contemporary art exhibition spaces. It is filled with objects in total contrats to the High-Tech style of the building. Sculptures carved in stone are shaped into benches and chairs, while bamboo woven structures are knotted together with twine to form a whole. The lightweight seats, made of silk thread wound around the wood, contain a structural poetry, as does the large abstract geometric pattern inscribed with red pigment on limestone, representing the flow of water.
The idea of ‘breath’ in this exhibition’s theme could be understood as in Monism, as the metaphysical dimension that unites mind and matter as one essence. For Bijoy Jain this idea conveys a sense of hope, despite the current state of the world. Although Jain’s architectural studies and early career took place in the United States, his work is strongly informed by Asian spiritual experience and a mystical connection with nature, where water, air and light are seen as the elements of architecture.
As a building, Jean Nouvel’s gallery concept has links with Mies van der Rohe’s Neues Nationagalerie in Berlin. In both, the walls are all glass and offer no hanging space. On the other hand, the connection to the surrounding garden is an essential element and a fine example of the modernist ideal of the outdoor-indoor connection. Nouvel’s architecture is dominant and perhaps Bijoy Jain’s material sensibility cannot be fully appreciated against Nouvel’s heavy steel structures. This, of course, results from different choices in the presentation, curation and design of the exhibition. And while Studio Mumbai’s artworks are in a fascinating way, the antithesis of Nouvel’s architectural language, on some level the tension between the two does not result in a synthesis. As a spatial experience, the massive steel columns somehow obstruckt the link to Studio Mumbai’s subtle production, which remains a bit flat.
At the initiative of chief curator Hervé Chandès, the exhibition also includes works by artists Hu Liu and Alev Ebüzziya Siesbye, who share Bijoy Jain’s interest in the spiritual dimension of materials. However, as the display contains very little explanation of the origins or purposes of Jain’s production, these other works seem to diminish the strength of the exhibition. Perhaps Studio Mumbai’s works should have been given more room to ‘breathe’, in order to show their conceptual links?
Studio Mumbai’s architecture has also attracted some criticism, because their artisanal approach resulting in sought-after and expensive design objects could be seen as elitist in the context of India’s housing crisis. Indeed, a sense of ‘conscious luxury’ characterises Studio Mumbai’s work, but on the other hand, their design approach should be understood as an example that elevates the value of craftsmanship. Rather than direct action, Bijoy Jain’s work conveys spiritual convictions such as honesty in the use of materials, which is inspiring in itself, and an interest in the existential forms of one’s own country. This is well illustrated in the documentary ‘The Sense of Tuning’ filmed for the exhibition by Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine.
This year the Serpentine Summer Pavilion is a wooden structure, inspired by Mediterranean and African architecture. Designed by Paris-based architect Lina Ghotmeh the building is featured here in 360 panoramic views. Ghotmeh envisioned the space as a meeting point around a large circular table in the heart of London in the historic setting in Kensington Gardens.
Architect Lina Ghotmeh in front of the 2023 Pavilion, photo Danica O. Kus
While planning the exhibition, chief curator Frédéric Migayrou worked very closely with Norman Foster, who was ultimately in charge of the over-arching concept. His meticulous attention to detail shows throughout. It’s the first ever show on the top floor galleries of the Pompidou Centre dedicated to architecture, which brings a special kind of aura to the contents on display. Exploring the most important projects and sources of inspiration, it’s a showcase for key ideas behind the Pritzker-prize-winning architect’s creative process.
Although Foster does not entirely approve of the concept ‘High Tech’ architecture in relation to his own approach, he is recognised as the leading architect of that movement. In the press conference I asked what is it that he disliked about the High Tech definition, and he explained that he mainly objects the stylistic association with glass and steel, and clearly wants to bring attention beyond that to other aspects in his large and hugely influential body of work. However, the formal language behind the buildings designed by Foster + Partners is a culmination of ideas and approaches that have been enabled by technological innovation, and the fascination towards the technological reality of objects. In Foster’s designs key principles of Modernism have been appropriated and translated in response to contemporary scientific developments and material innovations.
If architecture exhibitions can sometimes seem dry and boring (as Jacques Herzog has famously commented), in this one the abundance of material and different juxtapositions of objects is enlightening. Entering the first gallery we are immediately confronted with what lies at the heart of Foster’s creative method: drawing and sketching. The walls are covered by material retrieved from his enormous archive, showing a development in Foster’s research process spanning six decades. In the middle there is a long vitrine, containing over 200 spreads from his A-4 sketchbooks. Starting from 1975, observations and thoughts are recorded in these books, of which there are over 2000, according to Migayrou. The continuity of this material is impressive.
In the next gallery projects are represented through framed drawings and renderings, videos and architecture models, as well carefully constructed 3-D dioramas, which are rarely seen in architecture exhibitions. They certainly clarify meanings, adding a level of information to explain some of the formal connections for the general public. Some of the architecture models have been created especially for this exhibition. Through their scale and detailing, the development of Foster’s formal language can be observed and studied.
A project from the 1970s of machine-like pavilions, designed to be set in a forest without disturbing the landscape, as explained through the diorama and sketches
Objects by artists and architects, who have inspired Foster over the years are scattered in the middle of the gallery amongs his own architectural works. Some of them are from Foster’s private collection, like the restored vintage automobile owned by Le Corbusier. Richard Buckmister Fuller’s Dymaxion car, and a stripped metal body of a Mercedez-Benz 300 SL model, are reminders of Foster’s obsession with dynamic technical systems and structures. Artworks by Umberto Boccioni, Constantin Brancusi and Ai Weiwei illustrate formal inspirations.
From Foster’s private collection, the vintage automobile, that once belonged to Le Corbusier, carefully restored, next to the Dymaxion car by Buckminster Fuller
There are seven main themes in the exhibition. The overarching idea is Foster’s belief that the climate crisis can be resolved through technological research. ‘Vertical Cities’ is one of the themes and a guiding idea of Foster’s urban strategy, where the high-rise building is seen as ‘one the best inventions of the modern era’. It’s an idea in line with Modernist principles, and which Foster believes is also the most ecological solution in dense urban environments. He believes that each crisis will generate new urban forms and thus make the city more resilient. “I’m not complacent. I share the concern about rising sea levels and global warming. We are pursuing strategies for renewable energy, and huge strides have been made”, Foster argues.
Foster’s ideological models are founded on, and still underpinned, by 1960’s optimism, the ‘big acceleration’ of technological revolution. As a young architect in the United States Foster worked on experimental projetcs at Buckminster Fuller’s office, which shaped the recent graduate’s thinking, as well as the Californian Case Study houses program, designed out of simple, inexpensive elements. Other influential figures in Foster’s early years were Louis Kahn, Christopher Alexander, and his teachers from Yale Paul Rudoplh and Serge Chermayeff.
As a culmination of Foster’s futuristic aspirations, the exhibition introduces some of the projects developed in collaboration with NASA, in which architecture moves to outer space. Designs for stations on the Moon and on Mars are part of an architectural strategy, demonstrating how Foster + Partners continues to look forward, always motivated by expanding what is possible technologically. In order to find ecological solutions, the starchitect strongly believes that technology will eventually save the planet.
There are different reasons why airport terminals become obsolete. One of the main problems in some of the 1960s designs, was their lack of flexibility. And some were just too close to the city centre, like the historic Tempelhof airport in Berlin, which is now a multifunctional exhibition space. The iconic TWA terminal by Eero Saarinen was given the status of an architectural landmark on national Register of Historic Places in New York State, while still in use in 1994. Its souring volumes have now been restored to their former glory, housing an airport hotel in exceptional circumstances.
Designed as part of the JFK Airport in New York, the TWA terminal is the most famous building by Finnish-born architect Eero Saarinen (1910 – 1961). Commissioned by the business magnate and film producer Howard Hughes, who was then the owner of the Trans World Airways company, the terminal was completed in 1962. It was an instantly recognisable architectural concept, which represented the excitement and glamour of air travel before the onset of mass tourism.
In Saarinen’s short career he was commissioned to design three airport terminals. The distinctive form of the TWA terminal gained the most attention and became an icon of the golden age of aviation, while also receiving criticism already at the time. Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner preferrred the more sober and linear structure of the Dulles Airport in Washington, which remains in use in its original form. In Athens the main airport was moved further away from the city centre, but the terminal building by Saarinen has been preserved. Saarinen passed away in 1961 and never saw the finished terminals.
His father Eliel Saarinen was one of the leading architects at the height of National Romanticism in Finland, a movement influenced by motifs found in nature. The family emigrated to America when Eero Saarinen was thirteen. He graduated from Yale, and worked first in his father’s office. In the TWA design, as well as in his iconic furniture designs, such as the Tulip chair, we can see an abstracted and sculptural relation to natural forms, reinterpreted as a result of material and technological innovation.
Saarinen had been part of the jury in the architectural competition for the Sydney Opera House, which also informed Saarinen’s approach while designing the TWA terminal. Behind the bold architectural language of these two buildings there was a complex system of structural engineering, breaking away from the modernist principles of straight lines and plain functionality. Both buildings mark the early phase of an era when computers came to be part of the design process.
While modernist architectural space was often defined through rigid geometries, in the terminal design Saarinen introduced organic relationships and a flow of connections throughout the building. Saarinen was able to use calculations made by computers in order to realize such formal continuity. The spatial organisation inside the free-form envelop made of concrete shells was the outcome of Saarinen’s artistic vision and innovative methods. Hughes as the client – a leading player in Hollywood film industry – surely had a strong influence on the development of such a strong architectural narrative and expression.
Today spatial flexibility is a leading principle in airport design, so that terminals can respond to changing requirements. For the TWA terminal Saarinen had delivered an architectural concept, which could not be adapted with the rapid change in aviation and and the wider aircraft sizes of the jet age. In comparison to Dulles airport, the TWA terminal’s structure was not flexible and hence became obsolete at the end of last century. Although an icon of 1960s architecture, the TWA terminal shows the difficulties inherent in the most sculptural forms of architecture.
The terminal was closed in 2001, and remained empty for sixteen years. In 2015 a privately funded redevelopment started to convert the terminal into a hotel. In the category of airport hotels, it’s a rare example: a unique aesthetic experience imbued with cultural history. There are 512 guest rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows, made with thick glass blocking all the aircraft noise.
This year marks the 125th anniversary of Alvar Aalto’s birth. A series of events will take place to celebrate his legacy. To know the intimate side of Aalto, explore his home in Helsinki on this virtual tour.
Functional, simple, and comfortable – it’s one of the iconic homes of 20th century. Designed by Alvar and Aino Aalto and completed in 1936, this house in the Munkkiniemi district in Helsinki, Finland, exemplifies the changing standards of 20th century modern living.
As an example of early 20th century Scandinavian design and architecture, it’s difficult to find a more complete and well preserved site. The house remained a family residence until 1998 and most of the original features and objects there are intact. Now it’s maintained by the Alvar Aalto Foundation, and open to the public as a museum.
Within the development of modernist architecture and design, Alvar Aalto’s approach is known for an intuitive ability to play with spatial dynamics, light and materiality. The house also contains a studio space, where the architectural office was based until the mid-fifties. It represents the modernist ideal, where functionality has been achieved without the loss for comfort. The free design of the plan and the facade, as well as the unhidden structural elements around the house, exemplify key modernist principles, interpreted for this Nordic context.
Through experiments with bent wood Alvar Aalto created different models of chairs and tables. The home is furnished with designs, which represent a modernist sensibility influenced by natural forms and phenomena. Many of these pieces are still in production by Artek, the company founded in 1935, where Aino Aalto was an influential director.
A timeless appeal lies in the simplicity of the Aalto home. The enduring modernist aesthetic and the materials that reference nature are part of a strong cultural heritage, which still informs Finnish contemporary architecture. Elements and formal solutions of this building are reinterpreted in today’s architecture and many of Aalto’s design objects can be found in homes and public buildings all over the world.
