Liz Stumpf, Assistant Exhibitions Curator, leads a tour of the 2026 Serpentine Pavilion a serpentine by LANZA atelier, founded by Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo.
Celebrated for their collaborative practice and innovative use of familiar materials, Abascal and Arienzo bring their distinctive vision to the Serpentine Pavilion 2026. Their design centres on the serpentine or crinkle-crankle wall constructed from brick, creating a dialogue between British garden traditions, the historic South Gallery building and the surrounding landscape.
This tour of the 2026 Serpentine Pavilion explores the inspirations behind a serpentine, Abascal and Arienzo’s approach to architecture and the history of the commission.
BSL interpretation is available on request for all our Saturday Talks. Please get in touch at [email protected] if you would like to request this.
Architects' Biography
Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo founded LANZA atelier in 2015 in Mexico City with the purpose for creating meaningful contributions to the beauty of the world. Since then, the studio has received international recognition, including nominations for the Ibero-American Architecture Biennial Award (2016), the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize for Emerging Architecture (2016 and 2022), and the Brick Award (2021). LANZA atelier was awarded the Young Architects Prize in 2017 and, in 2023, received the Emerging Voices Award from the Architectural League of New York, which described the studio’s work as expressing ‘an inventiveness, a sensitivity to context, and a compositional refinement that spans scales and forms.’
Following LANZA atelier’s first solo show, New Work at SFMOMA in 2018, LANZA’s work has been exhibited at the 12th São Paulo Architecture Biennale (2019), the Lisbon Triennale (2019), the Concéntrico Festival in Spain (2021), and the Latin American Architecture Biennial (BAL) 2023. Additionally, they have presented their work at CU Denver (2024), UTSA (2023), Cal Poly Pomona as part of the VDL House Residency Program (2022), Kent CAED (2022), the Constructing Practice Symposium at Columbia University (2019), among others. LANZA’s upcoming projects include a solo exhibition of their furniture designs at AGO Projects in Mexico City, opening on 3 February 2026, as well as the design of the 61st Venice Art Biennale’s Pavilion of the Republic of Kosovo, curated by José Esparza Chong Cuy and presenting a new commission by Brilant Milazimi titled Dhëmbë të Fortë (Hard Teeth).
