Frida Escobedo’s Serpentine Pavilion : An Early Study in Filming Architecture
This project dates back to 2018, and looking at it now, it feels like one of the first times I was consciously filming architecture rather than simply recording a building.
The film was made for Dezeen, and centres on Frida Escobedo and her Serpentine Pavilion, a structure defined by restraint, rhythm, and material simplicity. At the time, I didn’t yet have a gimbal in my kit, and the way I approached movement was very different to how I might today.
The entire piece was shot on a Sony FS5, locked to sticks. No handheld work, no stabilisation tricks. Just slow, deliberate framing, tilts, and pans focusing on framing, proportion, and how the pavilion sat within its surroundings. In hindsight, that limitation was probably a gift. It forced me to think about pace and intention rather than coverage. Each movement had to earn its place.
There was some drone footage in the film, captured by another member of the team. This was before the rules around drone use had properly settled, but it was also around the time I began to recognise what aerial footage could offer architectural storytelling. Not as spectacle, but as context. A way of understanding form, repetition, and relationship to landscape that ground-level shots simply can’t provide.
What stands out most when I revisit the project is how closely the filming approach aligned with the architecture itself. Escobedo’s pavilion is quiet, modular, and purposeful. It doesn’t announce itself loudly, and the film mirrors that. The camera observes rather than interprets. It lets material, shadow, and geometry do the work.
At that point in my career, I wouldn’t have described myself as an architectural filmmaker, or even necessarily an architectural videographer. But this project feels like an early step towards that way of thinking. An instinct to treat buildings as lived objects with intent, rather than backdrops.
Looking back, it’s a reminder that you don’t always need the full vocabulary in place to start speaking a language. Sometimes you just need the patience to look, move slowly, and let place and purpose lead.
If you’re developing an architectural project and need a videographer who understands pace, restraint, and how buildings are experienced, you can get in touch via my contact page.
