Junya Ishigami: Architect of London's Serpentine Pavilion

Every year since 2000 London’s Serpentine Gallery has offered an architect who has never built in the UK a very special challenge - to design a boundary pushing temporary building to stand in the heart of Kensington Gardens, London. They have just six months, a sixth of the average amount of time it takes to design and construct a building. Architect Maria Smith follows Junya Ishigami and the pavilion team as they use their experience and ingenuity to try to construct the design. It’s a forest of slender white columns supporting a 61 ton roof of Cumbrian slate, a structure Junya refers to as 'a black bird flying through the rain'. How can they realise such a technically demanding building in such a short time and what will the public and the critics think when it’s finally complete? Featuring a diverse selection from the huge team which contribute to the building, including architect Sir David Adjaye, curator Amira Gad, Project Manager Ted Featonby, Engineer Michael Orr and Serpentine Head of Construction and Buildings Julie Burnell. With access to almost every facet of the project Maria takes us into the normally unseen corners of this complex, challenging and internationally unparalleled architectural event.