Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei

Serpentine Gallery, London, 2012

Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron and Chinese artist Ai Weiwei collaborated in 2012 in the creation of the annual Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London, a temporary structure built outside of the gallery for the summer months. The pavilion was the trio’s first collaboratively built structure in the United Kingdom and can be described as a large underground auditorium built under the gallery, topped with a floating canopy supported by columns. The interior was entirely covered in cork, including steps and small functional stools punctuating the space. The material was chosen for its uniquely sturdy and malleable properties and to echo the pavilion’s excavated underground landscape. The present porcelain stool was produced as part of a limited edition for the Serpentine Gallery and directly references its cork counterparts in both scale and design. Through porcelain, the original form takes on new elevated meaning and becomes an incredibly delicate object, alluding to Ai Weiwei’s signature use of porcelain and Herzog & de Meuron’s rigorous exploration of new materials.