Latest news with #MarinaTabassumArchitects
Gulf Today
14-06-2025
- General
- Gulf Today
Aga Khan Award for Architecture shortlists 19 projects in 2025 cycle
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) has announced 19 shortlisted projects for its 2025 Award cycle. The projects will compete for a share of the $1 million prize, one of the largest in architecture. The 19 shortlisted projects were selected by an independent Master Jury from a pool of 369 projects nominated for the 16th Award Cycle (2023-2025). The shortlisted projects are: From Bangladesh, Khudi Bari, in various locations, by Marina Tabassum Architects. It is a replicable solution for displaced communities affected by climatic and geographic changes, which can be disassembled and reassembled. From China, West Wusuti Village Community Centre, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, by Zhang Pengju. It provides social and cultural spaces for residents and artists, while addressing the religious needs of the local Hui Muslims. It is built from reclaimed bricks. From Egypt, the Revitalisation of Historic Esna by Takween Integrated Community Development. It addresses cultural tourism challenges in Upper Egypt, transforming Esna from a neglected site centred on the Temple of Khnum, into a prospering historic city. Khan Jaljulia Restoration. From Indonesia are three projects, including The Arc at Green School in Bali, by IBUKU/Elora Hardy. It is a new community wellness centre designed on the existing foundations of a former temporary gymnasium. The structure involves high-precision engineering and local craftsmanship; Islamic Centre Nurul Yaqin Mosque in Palu, Central Sulawesi, by Dave Orlando and Fandy Gunawan, erected on the site of a former mosque destroyed by a tsunami in 2018; and Microlibraries, in various cities, by SHAU/Daliana Suryawinata, Florian Heinzelmann, who initiated the project, offering quality public spaces in several Kampung and parks in Indonesia. Six have been built so far, and 100 are envisioned by 2045. From Iran: Majara Complex and Community Redevelopment on Hormuz Island by ZAV Architects/Mohamadreza Ghodousi, famous for its colourful domes. It provides sustainable accommodation for people; and Jahad Metro Plaza in Tehran, by KA Architecture Studio, built to supersede the poor-quality existing structures, for pedestrians. From Israel, Khan Jaljulia Restoration, in Jaljulia, by Elias Khuri, an economical intervention, situated among the remains of a 14th-century Khan. It transforms the deserted historical site into a vibrant public space. From Kenya is Campus Startup Lions in Turkana, by Kéré Architecture, an educational and entrepreneurial hub. Built with local volcanic stone, the design integrates rainwater harvesting, solar energy and tall ventilation towers reminiscent of surrounding termite mounds. From Morocco, the Revitilisation of Lalla Yeddouna Square in the medina of Fez, by Mossessian Architecture and Yassir Khalil Studio. It aims to reconnect to the riverfront and enhances pedestrian circulation in the area. Revitalisation of Historic Esna. From Pakistan, Vision Pakistan in Islamabad, by DB Studios/Mohammad Saifullah Siddiqui, which accommodates a tailoring training centre operated by Vision Pakistan, a charity that aims to empower disadvantaged youths; and Denso Hall Rahguzar Project in Karachi, by Heritage Foundation of Pakistan/Yasmeen Lari, a heritage-led eco-urban enclave created by using low-carbon materials in response to the harsh climate of Karachi, which is prone to floods and heat waves. From Palestine comes the Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem by AAU Anastas, a multi-purpose, non-profit exhibition and production space. The three-floor concrete building is becoming a key hub for craft, design, innovation and learning. From Qatar is The Ned Hotel in Doha, by David Chipperfield Architects, where a Middle Eastern brutalist architecture once hosted the Ministry of Interior, before being adapted into a 90-room boutique hotel, contributing to architectural regeneration in the area. From Saudi Arabia hails the Shamalat Cultural Centre in Riyadh, by Syn Architects/Sara Alissa, Nojoud Alsudairi. It is a cultural space on the periphery of Diriyah, developed from an old mud house. From Senegal comes the Rehabilitation and Extension of Dakar Railway Station in Dakar, by Ga2D, to accommodate the passengers of a new express railway line. The site gives back the forecourt to pedestrian travellers. Shamalat Cultural Centre, Riyadh. From Türkiye is the Rami Library by Han Tümertekin Design & Consultancy, the largest library in Istanbul. It took up quarters in the former Rami Barracks, a large single-storey structure with high volumes, built in the 18th century. The United Arab Emirates has the Morocco Pavilion Expo Dubai 2020 by Oualalou + Choi. It was designed to outlive the Expo 2020 and to be converted into a cultural facility. The pavilion pioneers the advancement of large-scale rammed earth construction methods. It obtained the gold LEED certification for its use of passive cooling strategies, which keep mechanical air-conditioning to a bare minimum. The nine members of the independent Master Jury who selected the 19 shortlisted projects are: Azra Akšamija, Director, Art, Culture and Technology Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, USA; Noura Al Sayeh-Holtrop, Advisor for Heritage Projects, Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, Manama, Bahrain; Lucia Allais, Director, Buell Center, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, New York, USA; David Basulto, Founder & Editor, ArchDaily, Santiago, Chile & Berlin, Germany; Yvonne Farrell, Visiting Professor, Academy of Architecture, Mendrisio, Switzerland and Founder and Partner, Grafton Architects, Dublin, Ireland; Kabage Karanja, Co-founder, Cave_bureau, Nairobi, Kenya and Assistant Professor of Architectural Design, Yale University, New York, USA; Yacouba Konaté, Professor of Philosophy, University Félix Houphouët Boigny of Abidjan-Cocody, Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Hassan Radoine, Director General, Citinnov SA for Integrated Territorial Planning and Smart Cities, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Rabat, Morocco; and Mun Summ Wong, Professor-in-Practice, Department of Architecture, College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore and Co-founding Director, WOHA, Singapore.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
The Serpentine Pavilion 2025 Is a Poetic, 'Breathing' Installation That Calls for Unity in Challenging Times — Here's Our First Look
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. It's not every day that I get to start my day with a morning stroll through the ornamental, teeming-with-wildlife mosaic of colors, textures, and water games that are London's Kensington Gardens, the Grade II-listed green lung situated west of the sprawling Hyde Park. Today, though, the press preview of the Serpentine Pavilion 2025, which will grace the lush grounds of the namesake institution's southern gallery in one of the best design exhibitions in the British capital between June 6 and October 26, makes for an exception — and one well worth the 8:30 AM showtime, too. The brainchild of award-winning Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum, whose practice strives to develop spaces that unfold in harmony with, and contribute positively to, the environment around them, investigating the impact of our presence on Earth, and her firm, Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA), the Serpentine Pavilion 2025 is, as hinted by its title, a physical as much as a metaphorical Capsule in Time. Now in its 25th edition, the Serpentine Gallery's initiative, kick-started by a cinematic steel and glass structure signed by legendary Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid in 2000, lends its outdoor stage to the preoccupations of our era in a poetic exploration of presence and absence, light and darkness, balance and transformation. For Tabassum, A Capsule in Time, her first-ever project realized outside of Bangladesh and her debut at working with wood, is an opportunity to manifest the function that architecture fullfils in our lives, she tells me over an email exchange ahead of its reveal, which is welcomed with speeches by Serpentine's CEO, Bettina Korek, Artistic Director Hans Ulrich Obrist, and the architect herself. Image 1 of 2 Image 2 of 2 "The relationship between time and architecture, between permanence and impermanence, of birth, age, and ruin, is intriguing," she says of the antithesis that characterizes the commission. "Architecture aspires to outlive time — it is a tool to live beyond legacies, fulfilling the inherent human desire for continuity after life." But time isn't the only thing this discipline escapes. Through our experience of it, Tabassum appears to suggest, we can transcend other boundaries, too, whether cultural or geographical, and find new ways of being together in an in-between place charged with the most remote, disparate histories and, therefore, more universally resonant. She is already putting this concept into practice. The community-gathering power of Shamiyanas, the uplifting bamboo and cloth tents that, "convening hundreds of guests on any occasion", serve as a staple of Bengali weddings and beyond, for example, was deep on her mind while working on the Serpentine Pavilion. Its half-capsule structure, composed of two vaulted canopies and two semi-domes separated by pathways and a courtyard, leans into the ritual and blissfulness of days spent out in the sun, whether in Bangladesh or England. "8,000 kilometers from London, the Ganges delta is a fluid landscape that tells the tales of movement and impermanence," Tabassum says. "Two-thirds of Bangladesh is a product of progradation, an active delta hydrology formed by the rivers Padma, Meghna, and Jamuna." There, dwellings change locations as the rivers shift courses. Despite the apparent migration, "memories of those lived spaces continue through stories and parables," she adds. Like the rest of the architect's experimentation, A Capsule of Time speaks to that state of ever-becoming, of transience and mutability, by letting the natural elements take control of its plan. It is a lesson I learn at my very expense while waiting for the pavilion's inauguration to start, as a cold breeze begins to weave its way into the project's open structure — an omen of the smoke-thin drizzle that's about to follow. And a reminder of the unpredictability that rules all kinds of life. "In Bangladesh, we don't build a lot with wood because it's not one of our materials," Tabassum explains. Still, the medium's functionality was instrumental to the Serpentine Pavilion 2025, as it might be to its afterlife. "We are hoping to bring the construction to a different venue, and using wood meant that we could create a structure that could be easily dismantled, taken away, and reassembled." Image 1 of 4 Image 2 of 4 Image 3 of 4 Image 4 of 4 Obtained from locally sourced, glued laminated timber, the zigzag sections of A Capsule in Time are complete with translucent polycarbonate panels that brighten up, dim, and coruscate in response to light. It is only when sunshine passes through them, casting dramatic geometrical shadows and amber tones onto the floor, that Tabassum's airy structure feels complete. Only when people probe its perimeter, occasionally stopping to look up at the slices of sky caught between its iridescent arches, pick up one of the books stored in its shelves, or sit down at its benches to scribble into their diaries, chat with a friend, or read one of their own, that the installation feels most alive. There is no separation between the inside and the outdoors in the architect's Serpentine Pavilion, her fluid design simultaneously aiming to embrace both. Just like there is no distinction between the humankind and the rest of the natural world when it comes to taking turns to interact with its softly undulating surfaces. That, Tabassum explains, is the intention behind the Ginkgo tree that sits at the project's heart — to redirect viewers' attention to the primordial source. To open our eyes to our shared origins, our roots. And show that, in dialogue, people, too, can thrive. "2024 has been a year marked by intolerance, wars, countless deaths, protests, and suppressions. Differences of opinion and respect for cultural diversity and societal norms are at an all-time low in many parts of the world. But how can we transcend our differences and connect as humans?", asks Tabassum. The answer comes, again, from the breathing core of the Serpentine Pavilion 2025, its Ginkgo tree. Chosen by the architect for its demonstrated ability to resist and continuously re-adapt to the threats posed by the environmental crisis, it is a beacon of hope that proves that, even from hardships, stems positive growth, so long as we find room to confront them, reconcile, and evolve. Marina Tabassum's Serpentine Pavilion 2025, A Capsule in Time, is free to access at Serpentine Gallery through October 26. Plan your visit.
Forbes
03-06-2025
- Forbes
Marina Tabassum's Serpentine Pavilion 2025 Explores Climate & Community
"A Capsule in Time" Serpentine Pavilion 2025 by Marina Tabassum The Serpentine Pavilion is a rare and thoughtful initiative—a space where ideas and drawings take physical form, then are experienced by a wide mix of people: gallery-goers, corporate types, school groups, joggers, dog walkers, passing tourists. This annual commission invites an architect (and sometimes an artist) to construct a temporary structure in the heart of Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park in London. And since its inception 25 years ago—with an impressive list of names to include Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, Olafur Eliasson and Kjetil Thorsen, Theaster Gates—the Pavilion has offered a stage for ideological and cultural expression, mirroring the shifting concerns of our collective consciousness. It brings critical thinking into physical space. Serpentine South gallery and "A Capsule in Time" Serpentine Pavilion 2025 by Marina Tabassum The Pavilions are often open, inviting spaces that encourage those who may not typically engage with architecture to experience design in an intimate, tangible way. We all have favorites (mine, the theatrical Theaster Gates of 2022), and many memories of meeting up with friends and family, attending talks and performances. This year's 'A Capsule in Time' hopes to do the same. Designed by architect and educator Marina Tabassum and her studio, Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA), the Pavilion centers on a courtyard built around a semi-mature, climate-resilient ginkgo tree, its axis aligned with the bell tower of the neighboring Serpentine South gallery. The capsule shaped Serpentine Pavilion 2025 by Marina Tabassum Drawing inspiration from Tabassum's native Bangladesh—from its culture of park-going to the arched garden canopies that filter soft daylight through green foliage—the structure shifts gently between interior and exterior, between material tactility and openness, light and shadow, height and volume. Built entirely from wood, light plays a pivotal role: a translucent façade scatters daylight as it enters the space—though on the wet, gloomy morning of the opening, I was left to imagine it all on a better day. There's also a kinetic element, with one of the capsule forms designed to shift and connect, gently reconfiguring the space and altering how we move through it. I met with the architect Marina Tabassum at the Serpentine Pavilion. Architect and educator Marina Tabassum Nargess Banks: What are your thoughts about the Serpentine Pavilion initiative, and the narrative built around the pavilions that came before you? Marina Tabassum: It's a very interesting way of showcasing architecture. In an architectural exhibition you have drawings and models and images that really don't make you feel what architecture does—until and unless you experience it. (With this initiative) the architect brings in their own ethos and practice and values when they come here and build something, which then immediately creates a kind of a connection with the practice and the people who are building it. In that sense, I think it's a nice way of showcasing architecture and inviting people who haven't built in London before to create something here. Light plays a critical role in Marina Tabassum's interpretation for this year's Serpentine Pavilion Banks: The Pavilion project may be impermanent but it does find a home and another life elsewhere at the end of its so-called residency in the fall. Am I right in thinking that the materials used for construction are locally sourced, and much of it reused? And secondly, the climate emergency has long been a lived reality in Bangladesh. How can architecture (temporary, mobile, public) help us confront that dissonance? Tabassum: The building has a second life and it doesn't end up in a landfill. And yes we have to source locally and think sustainability. For instance, the floor you see here seeps the water through, replenishing the water system underneath. The foundation that we've used is also a foundation that has been used previously in other pavilions. And then Serpentine itself is a free gallery, and the money that's raised from here (from the events during the summer) helps raise funds for the galleries. I think it's a nice sustainability model in that sense. And, you know, for us architects, for the last 25 years, it has turned into a sort of a legacy and to be a part of it is always wonderful. The Pavilion centers on a courtyard built around a semi-mature, climate-resilient ginkgo tree Banks: To my mind the Pavilion project is a wonderful stage for architects to visualize and communicate their ideas and ethos—perhaps even explore new avenues during and after the project. Do you dee the experience having an impact on your own work going forward? Tabassum: Every architect who has worked on this project has come with their own uniqueness, with their own stories. Each one is quite different and quite beautiful. And yes the process definitely impacts in some ways, and it manifests through other works too. You know, architecture is a journey. Concreteness wouldn't be interesting. Park life reflecting back on the wood Serpentine Pavilion by Marina Tabassum Banks: Your architecture is rooted in place—in climate, community and context. How do you transpose that ethos to the heart of London's Kensington Gardens, and what does it mean to bring a pavilion from Bangladesh to Britain, both symbolically and materially? Tabassum: I wanted to contextualise it: being in the park was important to me, as was the connection to the gallery. Our practice is very much based in the whole notion of sustainability and working with climate, especially in the Bangladesh context. I'm also trying to bring in my own understanding and my own ethos. There is the notion of light, which for me—coming from Bangladesh and being in a pavilion and in our context—the form is a nod to the shamas (lightweight, impermanent canopy structures). And consequently, the light and the colors that the structure gives is a sort of abstract way of bringing my own experiences in. Serpentine Pavilion 2025 by Marina Tabassum sits within Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park and by the Serpentine South gallery Banks: You've spoken of an 'architecture of relevance,' one that responds to urgency, not just aesthetics. In today's increasingly volatile political climate, where public space feels more contested than ever, what role do you see this year's Serpentine Pavilion playing, as a structure, but also as communicating other kinds of ways of us being together—of our humanity? Tabassum: A structure like this in architecture basically gives you a container, right? It's a space to come and congregate, to be here. And London has this possibility of bringing in diverse people with their own uniqueness to come and gather here. And you need to set aside all your differences in opinion and just to be here, be human in many ways. There's so much dialogue that can take place in this large, generous space. I really hope that this is what architecture does best: gives you a space, gives a platform where a lot of conversations can happen. And I really hope that this pavilion can generate that. Read more articles by Nargess Banks including Stockholm's Market Art Fair, a review of 'Typologien' at Fondazione Prada in Milan, and her year in art.
