Aj Wej-wej proposed the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion from afar

photo: Iwan Baan

London - The famous Serpentine Gallery in London opened its summer pavilion on Thursday, as it does every year, this time designed by perhaps the most famous contemporary Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. He could not attend the opening because he is accused of tax evasion in China and is not allowed to travel. He prepared the entire project through an internet connection on Skype.
     The temporary pavilion is a regular summer attraction of the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens next to Hyde Park. It is always designed by a well-known contemporary architect. In 2010, it was the Frenchman Jean Nouvel, and last year it was Swiss Peter Zumthor.
     Ai collaborated with the architectural studio Herzog & de Meuron. "We wanted to create something that has a peaceful exterior and a complex internal structure, like when archaeologists reveal an underground building," Ai told Reuters in Beijing.
     "It shows that architecture is not just about space and shape, but also about the circumstances we find ourselves in, our mental state, and the political background," added the fifty-four-year-old artist.
     Ai Weiwei's structure has two levels. The upper level consists of an oval steel flat roof with a shallow layer of water reflecting the sky, which is just low above the lawn. Below it is a space filled with steps and cork-covered benches where visitors can sit and socialize.
     The architects hope that the space will confuse visitors while they enjoy it. "People walk around, sit down... exchanging impressions, that’s what good architecture can provide,” said one of the architects, Pierre de Meuron.
     They had already collaborated with Ai Weiwei on the Beijing Olympic Stadium. Now they prepared the pavilion together for half a year and communicated with Ai Weiwei via Skype.
     "In such exceptional circumstances, it is extremely important that I, as a suspect, as a state suspect... used modern technology to collaborate with the best architectural studio," said Ai Weiwei. He admitted, however, that he would have liked to come to the pavilion's grand opening.

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