Serpentine Gallery Opens Pavilion (Without Ai Weiwei)

The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London, designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron and Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, was presented to the press today before it will officially open to the public tomorrow, June 1.

Since Chinese officials had put Ai Weiwei on 'city arrest' in his hometown Beijing, he was not able to attend the ceremony together with his design collaborators Jaques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. Weiwei was however allowed to send a recorded statement: “As an artist, I’m always very interested in putting art, design, architecture and social change together ... to give new possibilities.”

For a detailed conceptual description by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, check out this previous Bustler post.

Here are some first photos of the pavilion, the twelfth commission in the gallery’s annual series.