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Hou de Sousa's latest iridescent art installation "Atomic" is another delightful pick-me-up

2019-12-16T16:15:00-05:00

In their latest art installation, New York-based practice Hou de Sousa colorfully reinterprets the building blocks of our universe: Atoms. Simply titled "Atomic," the installation was designed for this year's Georgetown GLOW, Washington D.C.'s only curated exhibition of outdoor public light-art installations during the holiday season.

Photo: Hou de Sousa.

Suspended above festival-goers, Atomic is an iridescent canopy made of hula hoops and fishnet fabric. The project is a physical manifestation of the photographic bokeh effect, the designers say, and its multi-hued facets are a visual reference to the stained glass windows of Grace Church.

Photo: Hou de Sousa.

Hou de Sousa participated in last year's Georgetown GLOW with the kaleidoscopic "Prismatic." And fairly recently, they designed another delightful public art installation in their New York home base called "Ziggy," which was the winning proposal for the 2019 Flatiron Public Plaza Holiday D...

Architecture firm Hou de Sousa creates a multi-functional outdoor educational facility for New York's Socrates Sculpture Park

2019-05-10T18:35:00-04:00

In 2016 the Brooklyn-based firm Hou de Sousa submitted a winning proposal for the Folly Competition held by the Architectural League of New York and Socrates Sculpture Park. The goal of the project was to create a newly designed open-air education facility that would act as a permanent replacement to the previous facility which was severely damaged during a storm. Hou de Sousa created a structural space - frame design out of standard dimensional lumber. The structure's interconnections formed a structural space-frame which acts as a wall and roof system for the facility. Appropriately called Sticks, the project was intended to "ornamentally highlight the design strategies being deployed as well as prototypically demonstrate potential implementations of this construction method at future locations." Due to the facility's design success, the team has created an extension to the project called, Sticks II.

Sticks II site axon. Image © Hou de Sousa

New York-based Hou de Sousa creates Prismatic, a kaleidoscope spectacle

2018-12-10T14:13:00-05:00

If you find yourself in Washington, DC in the upcoming month, a spectacle of light, color, and form finds a temporary home in Georgetown Waterfront Park. Designed specifically for the park, New York-based architecture and design office Hou de Sosa creates a mesmerizing installation that provides a kaleidoscope effect. With the design process occurring in three phases, the duo uses a single box celluated by prisms starting from a center point to mimic the contextual features of the area. This technique allows for an array of perspectives that passersby can experience.

Appropriately named, Prismatic is an experience that allows for the public to immerse and explore within the multi-angular form. Using a moiré effect, the sculpture consists of iridescent cords woven through steel lattice. The gaps between the polychromatic cords are the key to creating this dynamic visual effect. Using the foreground as a contributing factor to the piece, visitors are able to wa...