From 6 June to 26 October the Serpentine Pavilion of 2025 can be visited by the public in Kensington Gardens, London. A work of the Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum, the founder of Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA), this year’s pavilion is named ‘A Capsule in Time’ and is a tribute to light, transience, and the architectural traditions of South Asia. Drawing inspiration from ephemeral architecture in the Bengal Delta, where homes transform in accordance with the constantly changing river flows, the pavilion is an invitation to reflect on the temporary, on resilience, and on adaptability.

The structure is composed of four arched modules shaped like capsule halves and arranged around a central patio where a gingko stands. This tree symbolizes resistance and permanence. Each module combines wood, steel, and translucent polycarbonate panels that filter light and evoke traditional shamiyanas, temporary cloth-covered structures seen in South Asia.

With a ceiling height of 4.8 meters, the pavilion offers a flexible open space where built-in shelves – showing a collection of books on Bangladeshi literature, ecology, and culture – double as seating. In October the pavilion will become a library. A café at the south end of it completes the visitor’s experience. One of the pavilion’s segments was designed to be movable, so the space can be reconfigured for different events.

The project coincides with the 25th anniversary of the first Serpentine Pavilion, designed by Zaha Hadid for the summer of 2000. Tabassum reaffirms her social, ecological and context-sensitive approach through a sculptural piece where light and space are transformed.