GTGL Snippets: 2012 Serpentine Pavilion, London, England

When we create bucket lists, every item we check off is an accomplishment. Because it's more than a list of 'been-there-done-that' sort of thing. You know that every item will enrich your life.

A visit to the Serpentine Gallery and enjoying the annual summer pavilion may be pedestrian for some, but for us, it was a bucket list item. More than seeing the pavilion, or the specific installation at the time. It was about seeing the idea behind an annual installation from the most brilliant architects and artists in the world.

When we were planning our trip to London, there were obviously places to see that were a given. But checking out the pavilion was for us purposeful and at the top of our list. It was literally the first thing we sought for after checking into our hotel room. 

I decided to do this snippet of my husband, happily resting against the Ai Weiwei / Herzog and de Meuron 2012 Serpentine Pavilion. Although my brother was the person who introduced architecture to me, and my inclination to physics made me consider it as a field of study, it was my husband who influenced me with modern architecture. He was the one who introduced me to the incomparable Zaha Hadid (who, of course, created the first ever Serpentine Pavilion in 2000) and my personal favorite Rem Koolhaas. So actually, checking this visit off was more his accomplishment than mine.

He was so happy, he went around it so many times. It was nice that the one we saw was this work from Ai Weiwei and Herzog and de Meuron which gave a nod to the 11 other installations before it with the columns underground. It's because like I said, for us it was not about the particular piece that was there in 2012 when we visited. The concept about celebrating the talent of our modern architects with a temporary installation was its allure for us. So seeing the work that paid homage to that concept was quite special.

When we were there, we said it would be so cool if we got a chance to see the annual pavilion each year. We were on track to make that happen until our lives changed so dramatically. It's still on the bucket list to do that, though. We'll see. 

Bianca is one of the founders of get there | get lost. She is an avid writer and photographer based in Northern California. Her love for history, literature, architecture and food culminate to her passion for traveling and learning about different cultures. She advocates for accessible travel, and continues to explore with her husband and travel partner, Jesús, despite physical limitations. Follow their adventures on Instagram as @gettheregetlost and @coffeeandtherapy.