Serpentine Pavilion by SelgasCano by as originally appeared in Hyde Park, 2015.
IWAN BAAN / COURTESY SECOND HOUSE
In recent years, the Los Angeles County Natural History Museums have made efforts to organize more contemporary art displays and strengthen their ties to science and local history, showing a once-censored mural of Barbara Carrasco and an altar dedicated to the diversity of the city. story by Ofelia Esparza and Rosanna Esparza Ahrens. This year, the museum will continue to expand its program by presenting its first presentation of contemporary architecture.
Starting June 28, NHMLAC, in collaboration with London-based company Second Home, will present the Serpentine Pavilion designed by Spanish architecture firm SelgasCano, which debuted in Hyde Park in London four years ago. The Los Angeles project marks the first time that a Serpentine Pavilion, an architectural project commissioned annually by the Serpentine Galleries in the British capital, will visit the United States. As part of the presentation, NHMLAC and Second Home have provided free programming of live events. which will focus on diversity and entrepreneurship, the future of LA and other topics.
The pavilion, a brightly colored translucent four-lane X-shaped structure resembling tunnels, will be set up in the La Brea Tar Pits, the excavation site and museum in central Wilshire, next to the Museum of Los Angeles County art. The Pits, which is the world’s only active Ice Age urban excavation site, form the area around Hancock Park, where the pavilion will be set up near the Brutalist structure that houses its museum.
“Hancock Park is a bustling park in the middle of Los Angeles where the digs, dog walks and picnics all take place in one place,” said Cynthia Wornham, senior vice president of strategic engagement at NHMLAC. “The Natural History Museum is committed to integrating science, technology and art in imaginative ways.”
When Second Home first approached NHMLAC about traveling from Serpentine Pavilion to the United States over three years ago, it seemed like “a natural collaboration” that would help achieve the museum’s goal of ” explore the intersections of art, science and nature, ”said Wornham.
The Serpentine Pavilion is one of the most remarkable architectural commission series in the world. Through it, Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, and many others, designed ambitious structures for the area surrounding the Serpentine Galleries.
“LA is a city we have fallen in love with,” said Sam Aldenton, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Second Home. “It’s an open and collaborative city with horizontality, both physically and metaphorically. Aldenton added that he sees it as “an authentic way of saying hello” to the city, as Second Home will soon be opening its first Hollywood location, in a 90,000 square foot space that will also be designed by SelgasCano.
“The program celebrates what happens when different types of people and ideas come together,” said Rohan Silva, another co-founder and co-CEO of Second Home. “We want to create spaces where art can meet technology, fashion can meet government, science can meet creative writing. We believe that diversity makes creativity stronger.
