News: Spanish architects José Selgas and Lucía Cano have been selected to design the 15th Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London's Kensington Gardens.
Madrid-based SelgasCano will be the first Spanish designers of the temporary pavilion that is constructed every summer outside the Serpentine Gallery, which has previously been created by Peter Zumthor, Frank Gehry and Jean Nouvel.
Designs are due to be unveiled in February, but are expected to combine the architects' interests in synthetic materials and new technologies with their enthusiasm for the natural world.
The designers, whose own office is a see-through woodland tunnel, plan to use "transparency" as the main material of their proposal.
"This is an amazing and unique opportunity to work in a royal garden in the centre of London. Both aspects – 'garden' and 'London' – are very important for us in the development of this project," they explained.
"We are going to use only one material as a canvas for both – the transparency. That 'material' has to be explored in all its structural possibilities, avoiding any other secondary material that supports it, and the most advanced technologies will be needed to be employed to accomplish that transparency."
Selgas and Cano founded their studio in 1998. Serpentine Gallery directors Julia Peyton-Jones and Hans Ulrich Obrist describe the Spanish duo as "the perfect choice to celebrate the pavilion's 15th anniversary"
"SelgasCano are architects for our time who offer a tantalising vision of the future. Their innovative use of materials, bold application of colour, informed by playfulness and a passion for nature ensures that next summer's pavilion will be very exciting," they said.