|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Photographs are by Liao Yusheng and can be found on his BEATFUSE! Flickr set. Click on images at left for larger views. [Google Earth link]
"No two New Yorkers are alike; everyone moves to a different
beat. When the warmup DJs match tunes, beats fuse.
Form follows flexion and air is suffused with mist + light,
as all dance under a penumbra of moire."
So goes OBRA
Architects' description of their competition-winning project
for PS1/MoMA's
7th Annual Young Architects Program this year.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Led by Pablo Castro and Jennifer
Lee, OBRA's design for the courtyard of PS1's Long Island
City home strays from designs by nARCHITECTS
and Hernan
Diaz Alonso in the last couple of years by opting for
more substantial coverage -- unlike the former's open bamboo
structure -- and a less overt blob-itecture -- unlike
the latter's alien forms. The result is a happy medium between
those two extremes, where a polypropylene mesh skin that provides
relief from the hot summer sun is set within a plywood structure
of complex shapes and spans. Both are made possible by the
use of computer technologies. |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
The outdoor installation incorporates
seven shells, creating seven "rooms" within the
triangular courtyard space. Pools, misters, and light strainers
under these shells help provide for increased cooling during
the especially crowded Warm Up, where DJs and other
musicians add music to the mix of art and architecture. In
addition to the covered spaces, three outdoor spaces are provided:
a caldarium (sandbox gallery), a tepidarium (the seven shells),
and a frigidarium (small gallery lined with ice and insulation).
The combination of these three spaces and the seven shells
seems to be an overt attempt by the architects to align their
design with Ancient Roman baths. |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Faced with a budget of $70,000,
the architects appear to to have achieved a lot for very little.
Compared with last year's poor
execution, these photographs indicate a heftier structure
with equally hefty connections,
hopefully making for an installation that lasts through the
crowds of summer.
|
| |
|
| |
| |
|
Click
on images below for larger color views. |
| |
|
|
|
