Therme Art Acquires 2019 Serpentine Pavilion by Junya Ishigami

Establishing Therme Group’s second consecutive year in partnership with Serpentine Galleries, Therme Art’s acquisition of Junya Ishigami’s 2019 Serpentine Pavilion was announced at the Frieze Breakfast to mark the beginning of Frieze week.

Taking place at Serpentine Galleries, the intimate event included remarks by Serpentine Galleries Artistic Director Hans Ulrich Obrist, and Mikolaj Sekutowicz, Curator and CEO of Therme Art.

Created according to his ‘free space’ philosophy, the renowned Japanese architect’s Pavilion represents the seamless union of man-made and natural worlds, embodying a quiet but insistent call to rethink how we design and conceive of architecture’s role in contemporary urban life.

Of Ishigami’s Pavilion, Sekutowicz remarked that, “It has become incredibly important to merge nature and human architecture to overcome the environmental challenges our civilisation is currently facing. As a company, we are actively searching for solutions to challenges in architectural design and city planning through art. Ishigami’s design for this year’s Pavilion responds to these challenges, approaching solutions through the artistic and conceptual freedom provided by Serpentine Galleries.”

Therme Group’s acquisition of Ishigami’s 2019 Pavilion, along with its proud support of his furniture design concept Lotus, follows its acquisition of Mexican architect Frida Escobedo’s 2018 Pavilion, and highlights its continued commitment to the experimental architecture program.

Hans Ulrich Obrist, Frieze Breakfast

Ishigami is the nineteenth architect to accept the invitation to design a temporary Pavilion on the Serpentine Gallery’s lawn in Kensington Gardens. This pioneering commission, which began in 2000 with Zaha Hadid, has presented the first UK structures by some of the biggest names in contemporary architecture, including Frida Escobedo, Francis Kéré, and Bjarke Ingels.

Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director of Serpentine Galleries, commented, “Junya Ishigami’s Serpentine Pavilion beautifully articulates the architect’s ‘free space’ philosophy in which he seeks harmony between man-made structures and those that already exist in nature. His gravity defying ‘slate roof’ has welcomed thousands of visitors to the park this summer to enjoy both the space itself and the many live and experimental performances that are programmed especially for the space. It is exciting to imagine its future life in a new environment.”

Guiding the work of Therme Art, much like the Serpentine Pavilion program, is the ambition to broaden conversations about art, technology, architecture and the future of city planning, employing a holistic approach in order to foster a society that is healthier, more mindful and more sustainable.

2019 Serpentine Pavilion by Junya Ishigami

2019 Serpentine Pavilion by Junya Ishigami

2019 Serpentine Pavilion by Junya Ishigami

Hans Ulrich Obrist, Frieze Breakfast

Mikolaj Sekutowicz and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Frieze Breakfast

Mikolaj Sekutowicz, Frieze Breakfast

Frieze Breakfast

In conversation with artists Jenna Sutela and Jakob Kudsk Steensen, Frieze Breakfast

Frieze Breakfast images ©Harry Richards Photography

2019 Serpentine Pavilion images: Serpentine Pavilion 2019 Designed by Junya Ishigami, Serpentine Gallery, London (21 June – 6 October 2019) © Junya Ishigami + Associates, Photography © 2019 Norbert Tukaj