The Serpentine Sackler Gallery by Zaha Hadid

After the MAXXI in Rome, The Serpentine Sackler Gallery is the second art space designed by the studio characterised by the merging of old and new spaces.

It gives new life to “The Magazine”, a former 1805 gunpowder store used for military purposes till 1963.

Located at a five minute walk on the north side of the homonymous Bridge, this old building is visually characterised by brick barrel walls and valuted ceilings.

Attached to it, the new Zaha-Hadid element rather than contrasting with the already exhisting architecture, complements it. This light, white, curvy new structure hosts under its flowy shape a social area and the cafè of the gallery.

The interior is extraordinary; it’s an environment of undulated surfaces and layers suspended above our heads mainly by transparent glasses that let us connect with the outside environment, who’s panorama will be designed by the world-renowned landscape artist Arabella Lennox-Boyd.

The contrast between the language of these two blocks doesn’t just reflect their diverse provenience but also underlines their different usage, creating completely different atmospheres.

Serious, plain and neutral, the exhibition pavilion lets you concentrate and appreciate the exposed artworks; completely curvy, shiny, semi-transparent and impressive, the annex building lets you lose yourself in thoughts about the previous experienced area and supports social interactions.

Serena Bonomi

THANKS THIS NEW KEY OF PERCEPTION, THE NEWLY INAUGURATED GALLERY IS ALREADY THE NEW CULTURAL DESTINATION IN THE HEART OF LONDON.