I was asked to contribute to the 13th edition of Matzine, themed on the subject of “jargon” in architectural discourse.

Initially, I was asked to review a recent building or exhibition and then ask someone else in a different discipline to write a review of the same building or exhibition.

Eventually, I decided it would be more amusing to write both of the reviews myself, while pretending to be two different individuals, working in two different fields. For the sake of exaggeration, I wrote a poem – a pantoum – and paired it with a laboratory report, taking Sou Fujimoto’s 2013 Serpentine Pavilion as my subject.

For the pantoum, I drew upon the excruciating language found in the Serpentine’s press release, as well as a video clip of an interview with Sou for  Wallpaper* Magazine.

Pantoum for Sou Fujimoto

The Serpentine Pavilion is a delicate, latticed structure.
It blends, cloud-like into the landscape & against the classical backdrop.
An oscillation between the finished and the unfinished, I cannot see this place
without wondering where the natural & the man-made merge. A meeting of the two,

it blends cloud-like into the landscape and against the classical backdrop
blacked out by an Athenian sky, as it was in the days before slaves.
Without wondering where the natural and the man-made merge; a meeting of the
two selves, chasing days before time across the ocean, and

blacked out by an Athenian sky, as it was in the days before slaves.
I prop myself up with steel poles, I’m not going to fall down.
Selves. Chasing days before time, across the ocean. And
meanwhile, in the artist’s own description

I prop myself up with steel poles. I’m not going to fall down.
I cry. What is this thing doing here? On the grass? In the park,
selves, chasing days before time across the ocean, and
Summer’s utopic cloud city rises again.

I cry, “what is this thing doing here, on the grass?” In the park,
an oscillation between the finished and the unfinished. I cannot see
Summer’s utopic cloud city rising again.
The Serpentine Pavilion is delicate. A latticed structure.

I had a bit more fun with the lab report, as you can see below (click to enlarge) …

There was a lively debate to launch the issue – if you’re particularly interested in the subject there’s an audio recording here.