Smiljan Radic’s pavilion for the Serpentine Gallery, made from glass-reinforced plastic. Credit2014 Iwan Baan

For the 15th year, the Serpentine Gallery has commissioned an architect to design a temporary structure on its front lawn in Kensington Gardens here. Generally, those who are chosen have not built anything in Britain before. Over the years, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Jean Nouvel, Sou Fujimoto and Rem Koolhaas have each planted a pavilion here, some more bizarre than others. This year’s creation, by the Chilean architect Smiljan Radic, is a kind of alien space pod resting on 62 tons of giant quarry stones. Fashioned from semi-translucent, glass-reinforced plastic, like the Fiberglas used to build yachts, it arrived in 66 pieces and took six weeks to install. Inside are a cafe and space for events that bring together art, poetry, literature and film by emerging creators.

Julia Peyton-Jones and Hans-Ulrich Obrist, co-directors of exhibitions at the Serpentine, said they first saw Mr. Radic’s work at the 2010 Architecture Biennale in Venice.

On a recent cloudless morning here, Mr. Radic was strolling around the pavilion with the directors, discussing the inspiration for his design. “I thought of those architecture follies around England and France from the late 16th century,” he said, explaining that he started out by fashioning a model out of papier mâché and then decided that he wanted the pavilion to have the same kind of handmade textured, bandagelike surface....Continue Reading

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