Serpentine Pavilion

After much anticipation, this summer’s new temporary pavilion by acclaimed architect Frank Gehry is now open at the Serpentine Gallery in London’s Kensington Gardens. The Serpentine’s Pavilion series has been running for 9 years, with a different architect rising to the challenge of designing an innovative temporary structure each summer. In recent years, we’ve seen pavilions from Olafur Eliasson and Oscar Niemeyer, and 2008 sees Los Angeles-based Gehry take the helm.

Gehry’s four huge wooden columns support a structure of glass, fir timber and steel. This acts as a framework for a promenade-like space which is set to house live talks, music and performance over the coming months. ‘i-am’ love the way the apparently haphazard network of glass appears to tilt and slide.

Gehry says, “The Pavilion is designed as a wooden timber structure that acts as an urban street running from the park to the existing Gallery. Inside the Pavilion, glass canopies are hung from the wooden structure to protect the interior from wind and rain and provide for shade during sunny days.”
The Serpentine Pavilion runs from 20th July – 19th October. Visit www.serpentinegallery.org for details on upcoming Park Nights.

La Purificadora Hotel

At ‘i-am’ we’re always on the lookout for surprising, eye-popping environments and interiors, and the latest destination from Mexico’s HABITA Group, La Purificadora definitely deserves a mention. Having emerged from a converted water purification factory in Mexico’s fourth-largest city, Puebla, the hotel’s design, from Mexican architects Legorreta & Legorreta, features an open-air lobby area with a dramatic sweeping staircase.

Meanwhile, the interiors of the 26 rooms, identified by letters of the alphabet, blend glass, dark stone and wood, with splashes of kitsch purple for a playful feel. The rooftop terrace bar has become the latest hotspot in Puebla and buzzes til the early hours. Visit: www.lapurificadora.com

Skin + Bones

Visit Somerset House this Summer for the Skin+Bones exhibit, and witness how the two disciplines of Architecture and Fashion Design have become closer than ever before. The ‘i-am’ team paid a visit last month and – aswell as gawping at some extraordinary frocks – discovered how Fashion and Architecture have been sharing materials, design methods and fabrication, to inspire radical developments since the 80s.

Discover how over 50 internationally-renowned architects and designers including Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, Comme des Garcons, Future Systems and Zaha Hadid ‘fashion’ buildings and ‘construct’ garments. Visit: www.somersethouse.org.uk