Serpentine Gallery pavilion 2013

Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto has designed this year's pavilion for the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens, which will be a cloud-like structure made from a lattice of steel poles.

The temporary semi-transparent pavilion, which will be open from 8th June until 20th October, will have two entrances, provide a seating area for a central cafe, and will occupy 350 square-metres of lawn outside the London gallery.

This is the third time a Japanese architect has accepted the annual unpaid commission, which is one of the most highly sought-after small projects in world architecture and goes to a major architect who hasn't yet built in the UK.

Last year's pavilion was a cork-lined archaeological dig created by Herzog & de Meuron with Ai Weiwei, who was forbidden to leave China at the time.

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012 design unveiled

The design of the '2012 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion' has been unveiled and is a collaborative work between Swiss based architects Herzog & de Meuron and Chinese architect Ai Weiwe.

It will officially open on 1st June and be open to the public until 14th October

Visitors will go five feet beneath Kensington Gardens to see the hidden history of previous pavilions, represented by eleven columns. A platform roof with a reflective surface of water floats 1.4 meters above the recessed floor plane and is visible to people on the lawn of the park above. Apparently the water may be drained at times transforming the roof into an impromptu dance floor or event space.

See more of this pavillion on Design Boom.