Architectural timepieces have a long and beguiling history. From the oculus possibly cut into the dome of Rome’s Parthenon to act as a giant sundial, to the domed observatories whose telescopes have been pointing at the stars for thousands of years, architects – like all of us – have always been fascinated by time and space.

Which is why Mexican architect Frida Escobedo’s decision to conceive this year’s Serpentine Pavilion as a compass informed by these twin existential concepts follows a time-honoured, if challenging, form of philosophical and artistic enquiry.