The 11th Serpentine Gallery Pavilion to be hosted within the grounds of London’s Serpentine Gallery is a “garden within a garden” by Swiss architect, Peter Zumthor. Or, as International Herald Tribune design critic Alice Rawsthorn put it, a “Swiss cowshed and secret garden." The gorgeously understated structure plays with the concept of indoor/outdoor, with the interior garden designed by Piet Oudolf.

In an artist’s statement, Zumthor described his idea for the prestigious commission:

A garden is the most intimate landscape ensemble I know of. It is close to us. There we cultivate the plants we need. A garden requires care and protection. And so we encircle it, we defend it and fend for it. We give it shelter. The garden turns into a place…

There is something else that strikes me in this image of a garden fenced off within the larger landscape around it: something small has found sanctuary within something big.

Given the record temperatures London is experiencing right now, it strikes me that harried city dwellers will also find sanctuary here. The pavilion officially opens to the public on July 1st.

(Photographs: John Offenbach (interior); Walter Herfst (exterior). © Peter Zumthor.)