Every summer, something pops up on the lawn of the Serpentine South gallery in Kensington Gardens. For over two decades, the Serpentine Pavilion has been a playground for some of the world’s most exciting architects. A place where ideas take shape in the form of temporary, one-off structures that are as much about feeling as they are about form. They remain one of London’s most anticipated architectural events.

Now that the 2025 Pavilion has landed, we thought it was the perfect moment to take a walk down memory lane and revisit some of our all-time favourites.

2008 – Frank Gehry’s Wild Wooden Theatre
Before we knew him as the man behind Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum, Gehry was building with plywood in California. And in 2008, he brought some of that raw energy to London. His Serpentine Pavilion was all jagged timber, glass planes and intersecting paths. The structure took inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci’s catapults and wooden machines, combining a sense of medieval mechanics with theatrical bravado. It felt spontaneous and handmade, like a sketch brought to life, and created a space that was both a stage and a shelter.

2013 – Sou Fujimoto’s Cloud of Steel
If Gehry’s was about structure, Fujimoto’s was about air. Inspired by the organic forms of forests and the relationship between architecture and nature, Fujimoto created a cloud-like structure from thin white steel rods. Lightweight, see-through and almost not there, it created the illusion that visitors were floating inside it. It blurred the line between object and atmosphere. You could walk through it, climb it, sit in it. The effect was somewhere between scaffolding and dreamscape.

2015 – SelgasCano’s Technicolour Tunnel
From the outside, the 2015 Pavilion by Spanish duo SelgasCano looked like a sweet wrapper caught in motion, full of translucent colours and twisted forms. The design was inspired by London’s underground network, with its maze-like layout reflecting the way Londoners navigate tube stations. Inside, it was a tunnel of light, movement and reflection, made from layers of brightly coloured ETFE, which filtered sunlight into a kaleidoscope of hues. There were no clear routes, just shifting paths and surprise openings. It wasn’t just a space to look at, but one to get lost in.

2019 – Junya Ishigami’s Slate Canopy
Ishigami’s pavilion was heavy. Literally. A vast, undulating canopy made from over 60 tonnes of Cumbrian slate, balanced delicately on slender steel columns. Inspired by natural landscapes and ancient shelters, Ishigami described the structure as a “free space”. The jagged, organic form looked as if it had risen from the earth itself, like a rocky hillside lifted just enough to create a place to gather beneath. It challenged expectations of weight, support and scale, while still feeling peaceful and contemplative.

2025 – Marina Tabassum’s Pavilion: Where Light Leads
And we’ve reached 2025. This year is particularly special, as it marks 25 years of the annual Serpentine Pavilion commission. To honour the milestone, the Serpentine invited Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum to create a structure that speaks to time, place and presence.

Named A Capsule in Time, the pavilion is a powerful installation made up of four timber structures, in which light plays a central role. Sunlight filters through the roofs, casting ever-changing patterns across the floor throughout the day. Calm and reflective, the pavilion invites visitors to slow down and simply be, offering a rare moment of stillness in the heart of the city.

So, what’s next for the Pavilion?
Looking back, each of these pavilions has captured a particular mood, not just of architecture, but of the cultural moment too. From digital playfulness to natural materials, transparency to shelter, they’ve reflected shifting values and global voices.

Looking ahead, we wonder how the commission might evolve. Could it become more sustainable, perhaps built entirely from reused materials or designed to travel once the summer is over? Might it become more interactive, more digital, or even community led? Or could the future lean further into simplicity, creating spaces of calm in an increasingly noisy world?

Whatever direction it takes, we’ll be there, ready to be surprised all over again.