Marina Tabassum is the Designer of Serpentine Pavilion 2025
Serpentine Pavilion 2025, “A Capsule in Time” by Marina Tabassum will explore the intersection of memory, architecture, and community.
Serpentine has announced that Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum will design the 2025 Serpentine Pavilion, marking a milestone in the celebrated architectural commission. Titled ‘A Capsule in Time’, the Pavilion will be unveiled at Serpentine South on 6 June 2025, continuing the institution’s tradition of showcasing groundbreaking architectural visions. Supported by Goldman Sachs for the 11th consecutive year, this commission has served as a launchpad for some of the most innovative voices in architecture, from Dame Zaha Hadid in 2000 to Lina Ghotmeh in 2023.
A Practice Rooted in Ephemerality
Tabassum’s architectural philosophy aligns perfectly with the ethos of the Serpentine Pavilion, which has become a space for artistic and community engagement. Her practice, Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA), has long been at the forefront of designing structures that respond to climate, culture, and local needs. Her work is dedicated to projects that are socially, politically, and ecologically engaged, reflecting the pressing issues of environmental degradation and displacement in Bangladesh.
The Khudi Bari Houses have a wooden frame structure and corrugated metal facades and roofs, which can be dismantled and relocated in the aftermath of riverbank erosion and reassembled by their owners once they have found a new place to build their homes.
Her acclaimed “Khudi Bari” [Small House] (2020–ongoing) exemplifies this commitment. Developed for communities living on the shifting sand beds of the Jamuna, Meghna, and Padma rivers, these modular structures can be disassembled and relocated in response to environmental changes. This ethos of adaptability and resilience informs her approach to the 2025 Pavilion, which will explore the dialogue between permanence and impermanence, tradition and modernity.
The Design: A Transient Architectural Experience
Set to take an elongated form in the north-south direction, ‘A Capsule in Time’ features a central court aligned with Serpentine South’s bell tower. Inspired by arched garden canopies that filter soft daylight through green foliage, the sculptural structure will comprise four wooden capsule forms with a translucent façade, creating an immersive interplay of light and shadow.
A defining feature of the Pavilion is its kinetic element—one of the capsule forms is designed to move and connect, transforming the spatial experience dynamically. This element echoes the architectural language of ‘Shamiyana tents, traditional South Asian awnings supported by bamboo poles, which are often used for communal gatherings and celebrations. By integrating this kinetic adaptability, the Pavilion fosters a sense of fluidity and openness, welcoming public engagement through conversations, performances, and interactive programming.
Architecture as Memory and Legacy
Reflecting on her approach, Marina Tabassum remarks: “When conceiving our design, we reflected on the transient nature of the commission, which appears to us as a capsule of memory and time. The relationship between time and architecture is intriguing: between permanence and impermanence, birth, age, and ruin. Architecture aspires to outlive time, leaving behind legacies that fulfill the inherent human desire for continuity beyond life. In the Bengal delta, architecture is ephemeral, as dwellings shift locations with the rivers.
“Architecture becomes memories of lived spaces, continued through tales. The *Serpentine Pavilion* offers a unique platform under the summer sun to unite people rich in diversity. The stage is set, the seats are placed—we envision various events and encounters taking place in this versatile space that unifies people through conversations and connections.”
A Milestone for the Serpentine Pavilion
Bettina Korek, Chief Executive, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director of Serpentine, expressed their excitement for this year’s commission: “ A Capsule in Time* will honour connections with the Earth and celebrate the spirit of community. Built around a mature tree at the centre of the structure, Tabassum’s design will bring the park inside the Pavilion. Its kinetic dimension will also harken back to the levitating element of Rem Koolhaas & Cecil Balmond with Arup’s Serpentine Pavilion 2006. We are grateful to all of our loyal supporters who make this groundbreaking commission possible and look forward to announcing a full programme of live events and public programmes that will bring people together around Tabassum’s visionary, spiritual, and social structure.”
As the Serpentine Pavilion marks its 25th anniversary, *A Capsule in Time* promises to be a defining moment in the ongoing dialogue between architecture, memory, and community. Tabassum’s design not only reinforces the Pavilion’s role as a global architectural platform but also reaffirms the transformative potential of space in uniting people and fostering shared experiences.
