Serpentine Galleries

Every summer since 2000, the Serpentine Galleries have commissioned an architect who has never built in England to design a temporary pavilion on the lawn beside the gallery. Zaha Hadid designed the first, and the series has become one of the most closely watched events in contemporary architecture. The galleries stand on either side of the Serpentine lake in Kensington Gardens, London, and draw more than 700,000 visitors a year.

There is no permanent collection. Instead, the two galleries present changing exhibitions of modern and contemporary art, architecture and ideas, often bringing new work by living artists. Serpentine South occupies a 1930s tea pavilion that opened as a gallery in 1970. Serpentine North is set in a former gunpowder store from 1805, extended with a flowing white structure by Zaha Hadid Architects.

Both spaces are compact and can be seen in an hour or two. They are easy to pair with a walk through the park, and they suit visitors curious about new art and architecture.