Viewing the Serpentine Pavilion 2025 by Marina Tabassum at Kensington Gardens

Marina Tabassum Architects is an internationally-acclaimed architecture and studio-based practice from Dhaka, Bangladesh, with a mission of establishing a global language for architecture that is at the same time, locally rooted, and sensitive to geography and climate in a time when both are rapidly changing.

Tabassum is the architect commissioned for the 2025 Serpentine Pavilion – unveiled this week – bringing their unique vision and environmentally conscious work to London in A Capsule in Time. An elongated capsule-like form with a central court aligns with Serpentine South’s bell tower, inspired by long summer days spent in the park. The structure is edged by a translucent facade that diffuses the light in striking ways throughout the space. This aspect – changing with the weather – is key to Tabassum’s design concept.

From the sensory to the spiritual: the interplay of light thanks to the cleverly constructed pavilion – which takes inspiration from Shamiyana tents and awnings typical to South Asia – the openness of the pavilion invites passage, communing and the flow of ideas, conversations and bodies to move seamlessly in and out.