Mexico's Lanza Atelier just dropped a winding brick maze in London and it's the architecture moment of the summer

Every year, London's Serpentine Gallery hands over its lawn to one architecture studio and basically says, 'go wild.' And every year, architecture Twitter loses its collective mind. This year? Mexican studio Lanza Atelier showed up with a winding brick structure they've called - with absolutely zero subtlety - A Serpentine. Snaky. We love it.

What is this thing, exactly?

The 25th edition of the Serpentine Pavilion is a curving, undulating brick structure that looks like it's mid-slither across Kensington Gardens. Lanza Atelier's design leans hard into the pavilion's namesake - the Serpentine Gallery sits beside the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park, so the whole 'serpent' concept is basically gift-wrapped for them. They ran with it, and the result is exactly the kind of bold, tactile architecture that makes you want to run your hands along the walls and pretend you're in an art film.

According to Dezeen, which featured the pavilion's opening in their weekly Dezeen Agenda newsletter, this is the milestone 25th edition of the programme - which has previously hosted pavilions from architects like Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, and Bjarke Ingels. No pressure, Lanza.

Why does this actually matter?

The Serpentine Pavilion isn't just a pretty Instagram backdrop (though it absolutely is that too). It's one of the most important temporary architecture commissions in the world - a career-defining moment for studios that get the call. Having a Mexican studio take the helm for the anniversary edition is genuinely significant. Latin American architecture has been having a massive global moment, and Lanza Atelier landing this gig feels like a long-overdue flag in the ground.

Brick, too, is a deliberate choice. In an era of swooping parametric steel and glass statements, there's something quietly radical about leaning into one of the oldest building materials known to humanity - and making it move.

What else was in the mix this week?

The same Dezeen Agenda newsletter also flagged OMA's Hangzhou Prism, described as a sculptural answer to 'ugly' architecture. Which, same. OMA being called in to fight ugly buildings feels extremely on-brand for 2025.

If you've been sleeping on architectural newsletters, the Serpentine Pavilion opening is exactly the kind of jolt you need to start paying attention. Go touch some bricks. Intellectually, at least.