Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum has been announced as designer of the 2025 Serpentine Pavilion in London, United Kingdom. 

Called A Capsule in Time, the design takes inspiration from the architectural language and history of South Asian Shamiyana tents or awnings.

The timber kinetic structure consists of four half-arched volume capsules that can provide shelter for the community. Set to be opened to the public at Serpentine South on 6 June 2025, the 2025 Serpentine Pavilion will be on view until 26 October 2025 in Kensington Gardens. 

Beginning with Dame Zaha Hadid in 2000, this ambitious and one-of-a-kind project has produced the first structures in the United Kingdom by some of the most prominent and emerging architects in the world.

Tabassum is renowned for her work to create a contemporary architectural language that is grounded in and responsive to place, climate, context, culture, and history. Her design will resonate the Serpentine South and will initiate a conversation between the the permanent and ephemeral nature of the commission.

The 2025 Pavilion has a central court that aligns with the bell tower of Serpentine South and is extended north-south. Four wooden capsule forms with a translucent facade that diffuses and dapples light as it enters the area make up the Pavilion's sculpture, which is inspired by the tradition of park-going and arched garden canopies that filter soft daylight through green foliage.

A kinetic element that allows one of the capsule forms to move and connect, converting the Pavilion into a new space, is at the heart of Tabassum's design.

In addition to referencing the history and architectural language of South Asian Shamiyana tents or awnings, Tabassum's design emphasizes the sensory and spiritual potential of architecture through scale and the interaction of light and shadow. 

These structures, which are supported by bamboo poles and consist of an exterior fabric, are commonly set up for outdoor events and festivities and serve a similarly dynamic purpose. The openness of Tabassum's Pavilion embraces the potential for connecting visitors together through conversations, live events, and public gatherings.

Marina Tabassum. Image © Asif Salman

Tabassum emphasizes that the design is also inspired by the architecture of the Bengal delta and features ephemeral dwellings that can shift locations according to the changing courses of the rivers.

"We are thrilled to be selected as the architect of this year’s Serpentine Pavilion. When conceiving our design, we reflected on the transient nature of the commission which appears to us as a capsule of memory and time," said Marina Tabassum. 

"The relationship between time and architecture is intriguing: between permanence and impermanence, of birth, age and ruin; architecture aspires to outlive time."

"Architecture is a tool to live behind legacies, fulfilling the inherent human desire for continuity beyond life. In the Bengal delta, architecture is ephemeral as dwellings change locations with the rivers shifting courses. Architecture becomes memories of the lived spaces continued through tales."

"The archaic volume of a half capsule, generated by geometry and wrapped in light semi-transparent material will create a play of filtered light that will pierce through the structure as if under a Shamiyana at a Bengali wedding."

"The Serpentine Pavilion offers a unique platform under the summer sun to unite as people rich in diversity. The stage is set, the seats are placed. We envision various events and encounters taking place in this versatile space that unifies people through conversations and connections," Tabassum added.

Serpentine 2025 Pavilion A Capsule in Time, designed by Marina Tabassum, Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA). Design render, interior view. Image © Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA), courtesy Serpentine

“A Capsule in Time will honour connections with the Earth and celebrate the spirit of community. Built around a mature tree at the centre of the structure, Tabassum’s design will bring the park inside the Pavilion," said Bettina Korek, Chief Executive, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director. 

"Its kinetic dimension will also harken back to the levitating element of Rem Koolhaas & Cecil Balmond with Arup’s Serpentine Pavilion 2006." 

"We are grateful to all of our loyal supporters who make this groundbreaking commission possible and look forward to announcing a full programme of live events and public programmes that will bring people together around Tabassum’s visionary, spiritual and social structure."

"This is a milestone year for the Serpentine Pavilion Commission as we celebrate 25 years since the inception of this prestigious programme," Korek and Obrist added.

The 25th year of this historic commission will begin with Tabassum's Pavilion, which will build on Dame Zaha Hadid's legacy of pushing the limits of architecture. "There should be no end to experimentation," she said, and Tabassum's Pavilion will be an excellent representation of this philosophy.

Serpentine CEO Bettina Korek, art director Hans Ulrich Obrist, director of construction and special projects Julie Burnell, curator Chris Bayley, curator at Large, Architecture and Site-specific Projects Natalia Grabowska, assistant exhibitions curator Alexa Chow, and advisors Sou Fujimoto and David Glover selected this year's Pavilion.

Following Tabassum's ten-year collaboration with URBANA in 2005, Marina Tabassum Architects was established and has produced architectural projects that are ecologically, politically, and socially conscious. In addition to structures located in Dhaka, its surrounding areas, and other parts of Bangladesh, MTA also conducts research on environmental degradation in Bangladesh, a nation that is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

With the goal of improving the living and environmental situations of those they work with, the studio also focuses on the role that architecture plays in addressing the living conditions of marginalized people in the area, as evidenced by their well-known Khudi Bari [Small House] (2020–ongoing). These easily disassembled and movable modular buildings were created in 2020 for people residing on the sand beds of the Jamuna, Meghna, and Teesta rivers.

In 2024, architect, researcher and educator Marina Tabassum was named as the world's most influential architects in the 2024 TIME100 Next List by TIME Magazine. In 20216, Tabassum was awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture with Bait Ur Rouf Mosque, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Top image: Serpentine 2025 Pavilion A Capsule in Time, designed by Marina Tabassum, Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA). Design render, exterior view. Image © Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA). Courtesy Serpentine.

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