Mexican architecture studio LANZA atelier has been selected to design the Serpentine Pavilion 2026, marking the 25th edition of the high-profile annual commission. The studio, founded by Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo, will unveil its pavilion, a serpentine, at Serpentine Galleries South in London on June 6, 2026.
Inspired by the serpentine “crinkle-crankle” wall—a curving brick form historically used in English gardens—the pavilion’s main structure will incorporate this feature to create a porous, flowing boundary. A translucent roof will rest atop brick columns resembling a grove, allowing light and air to circulate freely. The design also integrates a second wall that traces the canopy of nearby trees without disturbing them, establishing a quiet dialogue with the surrounding landscape.
Brick was chosen for its material resonance with the Serpentine South Gallery’s original structure and the English garden tradition. According to the architects, the design “foreground[s] vernacular craft and the elemental capacity of architecture to bring people together.”
The selection of LANZA atelier continues Serpentine’s tradition of highlighting innovative international practices. The 2026 edition follows recent pavilions that have explored themes of community, spatial experimentation, and cultural memory. In 2025, Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum presented A Capsule in Time, a pavilion built around a Ginkgo tree and designed to evolve visually throughout the seasons, while addressing environmental and spiritual dimensions of architecture.
The 2024 Serpentine Pavilion, Archipelagic Void by Minsuk Cho of Mass Studies, was centered on the Korean concept of Madang, or courtyard, and featured five functional “islands” that hosted Serpentine’s summer programs.
As in previous years, the pavilion will serve as a platform for Serpentine’s summer and fall events programming, and will remain free and open to the public through October.
