Lilas Installation
The Lilas installation for the Serpentine Gallery’s annual summer party consisted of three identical tensile fabric structures, arranged like parasols around the centre of the space. The piece was inspired by the complex natural geometry of flower petals and leaves. Each widened gracefully from a slender base into a broad, cantilevered canopy more than five metres high. The three parasols overlapped, delicately interweaving but never touching, mediating between open and closed spaces and allowing air, light and sound to travel through narrow gaps in the pavilion.
The Lilas were elevated on a low platform in the centre of the site, which was flanked by a row of trees to the south of the gallery and open on all sides. During the day, its canopy provided shade; at night it was transformed into a source of light, which radiated from the base along thin seams in the surface of the fabric. These illuminated bands gave the impression of veins, revealing the geometric intricacy of the Lilas and tracing the delicate arc of the forms.
Project Architect: Kevin McClellan
Coordinator: Harriet Warden
Consultants
Structural: ARUP
Steel Fabrication: Sheetfabs Ltd
Membrane Fabrication: Base Structures Ltd
Lighting design: Zumtobel
Furniture/object provided by Estabished & Sons: Nekton Stools Sawaya & Moroni: Z Play Serralunga: Flow Vase Max Protetch: Aluminium Bench Swarovski: Chandelier, Kenny Shachter
