Marina Tabassum Reveals Serpentine Pavilion 2025 as a Capsule in Time

Every summer, London's Kensington Gardens is host to one of the world's most sought-after architectural commissions the Serpentine Pavilion. For its hallowed 25th edition, the much-sought-after position goes to renowned Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum, whose A Capsule in Time opens to the public on 6 June 2025.

A Celebration of Architecture and Earth

Tabassum, renowned for her richly contextual and sustainable work, gives the Serpentine's latest commission a deep sense of roots. Her work is not merely a building it's a journey. A Capsule in Time consists of four timber frame capsules, arranged in a gentle configuration, each of which is encased in translucent panels that softly illuminate the interior. The open-plan building promotes fluid movement with one of the capsules being mobile introducing a sense of participatory dynamic engagement that is unusual in this kind of architecture.

A half-grown Ginkgo tree, an ancient and resilient species, stands at the Pavilion's center. It anchors the design both physically and figuratively, symbolizing resilience, memory and environmental awareness. The Pavilion's layout, facing the bell tower of Serpentine South, offers a softly forceful meditation on time, transience and continuity.

A Pavilion With a Pulse

Conceived not merely as a thinking space, the Pavilion is intended to transform and activate through programming. During the summer, the Pavilion will serve as a platform for a series of public events such as talks, performances and community activities. Consistent with this year's theme of innovation, bookshelves within the capsule buildings will contain curated selections of books selected by Tabassum herself with a focus on Bengali poetry, world literature and climate and culture books. Visitors are invited to borrow a book, sit beneath the Ginkgo and linger.

The Pavilion's democratic and open form is a testament to Tabassum's philosophy architecture for the masses. "It is a space where the people of various walks of life can sit under one roof and demand action," she says. In the absence of a partition to divide them, the Pavilion encourages contemplation, discussion and cohesion.

A Global Voice With Local Roots

Tabassum is the Global South's first and the first Bangladeshi architect to design the Serpentine Pavilion. Her practice in Dhaka, Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA) is renowned globally for designing in harmony with society and nature. Her designs, like the Bait Ur Rouf Mosque for which she won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture are low-cost, climate-sensitive solutions that are elegant and dignified for local communities.

In A Capsule in Time, these values are brought into a global conversation. "In our work, we like to explore how to root architecture in place, time and ecology. The Serpentine Pavilion gave us the opportunity to do this on a worldwide stage," she stated.

Continuing a Legacy of Visionary Design

Since its first opening in 2000 with Dame Zaha Hadid's revolutionary building, the Serpentine Pavilion has put the spotlight on some of the largest names in modern architecture from Rem Koolhaas to Francis Kéré. Marina Tabassum is the latest name on this august list at a moment when architecture's contribution to climate action and social conversation has never been more pressing. Artistic Director Hans Ulrich Obrist has this to say: "Tabassum's Pavilion not only gives us a structure rooted to the ground but one which spiritually carries us away. It is a space for higher connection in an age that so deeply needs it."

The Pavilion is also followed by a limited-edition special print by Tabassum and by a comprehensive catalogue with original essays by architects, artists, and writers from across the globe, including Lesley Lokko, Manijeh Moradian and Nikolas H. M. Summers. A Place to Stop in a City That Never Stops More than a work of architecture, A Capsule in Time is an invitation to stop, to connect and to slow down. Attracted perhaps by its revolutionary design, its unassuming nobility or its open invitation to lounge in the shade of a venerable tree's canopy, this Pavilion provides something we could all benefit from a space simply to be. Serpentine Pavilion 2025 is open on 6 June and will be on display until October 2025. Entry is free and all are invited.

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