Tasked with creating a pavilion that brought together the Columbia University community and the surrounding neighbourhood. After a site analysis, I found that the students and residents of the area use the space very differently due to social and cultural differences. While people use this space in different ways, there is a point in time where, like in ballet, there is great unison or in Jane Jacob’s language an “orderly whole”.
I found that like the preferences of the residents and students of Manhattanville, dance and architecture are two art forms that are both defined and sculpted by space. Additionally, space not only has the ability to expand the two forms of art in infinite amounts of ways but also constrain it.
The pavilion not only dances itself but encourages people who are artists, or non-artists, to move with it and experience the joys and fluidity of the space. In order for the pavilion to ‘dance’ it is made of curtain-like material. This type of material allows the space to move freely instead of being bound to it. The instrument of the space is the movement of the body. The space considers and is directed by the three elements of movement; space, time, and energy.
Status: School Project
Location: New York, NY, US
My Role: Student