Image: Herzog and de Meuron/Ai Weiwei's vision

Serpentine Gallery in London, UK, has unveiled plans for its annual Pavilion commission, which this year has been designed by Herzog and de Meuron in collaboration with China's Ai Weiwei.

The 2012 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion is the 12th commission in the annual series and forms part of the London 2012 Festival - the culmination of the UK's Cultural Olympiad.

Visitors will have the opportunity to walk beneath the Serpentine's lawn in order to examine the "hidden history" of former pavilions, with eleven columns representing each structure.

A 12th column will support a floating platform roof 1.4m (4.6ft) above the ground, with the pavilion to operate as a public space and a venue for the gallery's Park Nights programme.

Earlier this year, international spa company ESPA announced it would be sponsoring the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in the first of its planned cultural partnerships for 2012.

Herzog and de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, who previously worked together on the Olympic Stadium in Beijing, China, said: "On the foundations of each single pavilion, we extrude a new structure as load-bearing elements for the roof of our pavilion - eleven supports all told, plus our own column that we can place at will, like a wild card.

"The roof resembles that of an archaeological site. It floats a few feet above the grass of the park, so that everyone visiting can see the water on it, its surface reflecting the infinitely varied, atmospheric skies of London."

Details: www.serpentinegallery.org

Image: (c) 2012, by Herzog and de Meuron and Ai Weiwei