25 Years in the Making: How a 'Crinkle Crankle' Brick Wall Reinvented the Serpentine Pavilion

For the last 25 years, the Serpentine Pavilion in London's Kensington Gardens has been a showcase of architectural haute couture, featuring works by stars like Frank Gehry and Peter Zumthor. This year, Lanza Atelier, a Mexico City-based studio founded by Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo, has taken a radically simple approach: a crinkle-crankle wall—a wavy, serpentine-shaped structure made of rust-coloured brick. It's the first time brick has been used for the pavilion, and the result is both humble and powerful.

The Serpentine Pavilion's Evolution

The Serpentine's rules are simple: the chosen architect must not have built in the UK, offering a platform for emerging talent. Early pavilions were often elaborate self-parodies by white male superstars, but recent years have seen a shift toward more diverse, emerging architects. Lanza Atelier fits this new direction, known for reinterpreting familiar materials and forms through craft, technology, and spatial design.

The Crinkle-Crankle Wall: A Historical Twist

The term crinkle-crankle is delightfully onomatopoeic, describing a wavy wall that originated in rural Suffolk, introduced by Dutch engineers in the 17th century to drain the Fens. The Dutch called them slangenmuur (snake walls). Similar structures are found in Mexico and ancient Egypt. Mathematically, they are sinusoidal; structurally, they are elegantly economical—the curves provide inherent stability, requiring only a single layer of bricks without buttressing. On an east-west axis, the south-facing side captures sun, creating warmth for fruit trees. "They're structures that temper climate, create shelter, and enable growth," says Abascal.

Reframing the Wall

Walls have had a bad reputation, especially with Trump's border wall. This pavilion reframes the wall as a gathering place. "We're doing a wall that attracts instead of divides," says Abascal. "It creates a series of little rooms. A wall doesn't necessarily need to be built for division."

Gentle Geometry

The duo embraced "gentle geometry," responsive to those moving through it. The serpentine form originated from setting the building line around existing tree canopies. It also alludes to the Serpentine pond and includes a serpentine-shaped bench as a "mini-me" of the pavilion.

Brick: A First for the Serpentine

Surprisingly, brick has never been used for the Serpentine Pavilion, perhaps seen as too permanent for a temporary structure. Lanza's bricks are standard size, manufactured in Surrey, but transformed by being set back to front, ribbed sides out, creating a woven textile-like texture. They are threaded through reinforcing bars like beads on a chain, making the pavilion easy to dismantle without waste.

Design Details

The structure is topped by a flat glass roof on a steel grid, with fixed louvres to deflect summer sun and cast cooling shade. A row of glittering lights along the wall adds a hint of drama. The wiggly brick walls allude to the weathered red brickwork of the neighbouring Serpentine South Gallery and the wider South Kensington area, including the Royal Albert Hall.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Words

Frank Lloyd Wright once said: "A brick is a small, ordinary, worthless thing that costs 11 cents, but give me a brick and it becomes worth its weight in gold." Arienzo agrees: "A brick is nothing very sophisticated. But once you see it laid down or built in a different way, it sparks curiosity and makes people enjoy it more." After 25 years, brick's Serpentine time has finally come.

An aerial view shows the Lanza Atelier pavilion’s snakelike wall. Photograph: Iwan Baan, Courtesy Serpentine./© Lanza atelier

The bricks are set back to front which adds further textural interest. Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi/The Guardian

The structure is topped by a flat glass roof with fixed louvres that deflect the sun. Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi/The Guardian