The pavilion will take visitors beneath the ground to explore the history of previous structures on the site. A hole will be dug in the soil of the park until it reaches groundwater and the foundations and remains of previous pavilions will be revealed.

Above ground columns will support a floating platform roof.

Describing their design concept, Herzog and de Meuron and Ai Weiwei said: “The old foundations form a jumble of convoluted lines, like a sewing pattern. A distinctive landscape emerges out of the reconstructed foundations which is unlike anything we could have invented; its form and shape is actually a serendipitous gift.

“On the foundations of each single pavilion, we extrude a new structure (supports, walls) as load-bearing elements for the roof of our pavilion – 11 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 some five 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.”

Serpentine Gallery director Julia Peyton-Jones and co-director Hans Ulrich Obrist said: “It is a great honour to be working with Herzog and de Meuron and Ai Weiwei. We are delighted that our annual commission will bring this unique architectural collaboration to Europe to mark the continuity between the Beijing 2008 and the London 2012 Games.”