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10 architectural installations & pavilions that stood out this week

2024-10-05T08:00:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Installations.

Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles.

↑ A table elevated in the landscape in Logroño, Spain by Álvaro González Serrano and J-AF Architecture; Photo: Josema Cutillas

↑ Six Sections in Zhangzhou, China by Studio Link-Arc

↑ Colour Palace in London, United Kingdom by Yinka Ilori and Pricegore; Main Contractor/Design Partner: Raskl; Photo: Adam Scott

↑ Qianhai Floating City in Shenzhen, China by People's Architecture Office; Co-Designer: Dongxiying Studio, CCDI; Photo: Zhang Chao, People’s Architecture Office

↑ Blooms in San Jose, CA by Hou de Sousa

↑ RGB by Mike McKay; Photo: Alan Rideout Photography

↑ Gulao Tea Alcove in Heshan, China by Huang Zelin · Aether ...

BIG creates mirrored installation for Audi at Milan Design Week

2024-04-25T11:46:00-04:00

Bjarke Ingels Group has designed an installation for the car brand Audi, installed at Milan Design Week. Titled ‘Reflaction,’ a play on the words “reflection” and “action,” the installation seeks to convey how “our actions in the world reflect the very essence of our existence,” according to Audi.

Image credit: Audi House of Progress

The installation is configured as a ‘plus’ symbol when viewed from above, dividing the site into four spaces constructed from a minimal selection of materials. The walls of the installation are formed of 33 x 28-foot mirrors, which, according to Audi, “creates an immersive spatial illusion, highlighting the brand's continuous effort to overcome the limits of innovation.”

Image credit: Audi House of Progress

Each space is grounded in a particular theme, namely Community, Knowledge, Performance, and Digital. The Community section features a ‘circular forest’ of Japanese maples to provid...

Christo and Jeanne Claude’s Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped to be recycled for Paris Olympic Games

2023-09-20T11:55:00-04:00

The Mayor of Paris has announced that Christo and Jeanne Claude’s Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped installation is to be recycled for use in the city’s upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games. As reported by ARTnews, the effort will be led by the environmental organization Parley for the Oceans.

Under the plans, 269,000 square feet of blue polypropylene fabric and 9,800 feet of red polypropylene rope will be recycled. The recycling of the fabric and rope is in addition to the reuse of the wood and steel substructures which have already been reused by carpentry and steel producers.

Photo: Benjamin Loyseau. Copyright: 2021 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation

“The fabric and ropes will be recycled into shade structures, tents or barnums for our next major events in Paris, in particular the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Paris Mayor Anne Hildago said in a statement reported by ARTnews. “This is a very fine example of the art world’s ability to adapt to climate challenges.”

The installation w...

Three playful installations by Snarkitecture: Your Next Employer?

2023-06-12T13:49:00-04:00

Following last week’s visit to Los Angeles-based Johnston Marklee, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to New York this week to explore the work of Snarkitecture.

The firm operates along an ethos of “not art, not architecture,” with a methodology that challenges conventional approaches to materials and structures. Over recent years, our editorial has reported on several creative outputs from the team, who “thrive on opportunities to create unexpected moments that invite exploration, play, and reflection.”

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring an intern to join their New York office for three months.

For candidates interested in applying for the position, or anybody interested in learning more about the studio, we have rounded up three projects by Snarkitecture that demonstrate their design approach.

BEACH, National Building Museum, Washington D.C.

In 2015, Snarkitecture captured headlines with their BEACH installation in Washington D.C.’s National Buildin...

Albert Frey’s futuristic Aluminaire House is still holed up in desert storage limbo

2022-04-26T13:26:00-04:00

The Albert Frey Aluminaire House that was donated and shipped to the Palm Springs Art Museum about five years ago will remain disassembled in its shipping container for at least another year or longer. Key issues raised by the city may keep visitors from ever walking through the Aluminaire House, even when reconstructed.

Frey’s experimental 1931 house (created in partnership with A. Lawrence Kocher) first came into the museum’s coffers in 2020 after a six-year bout in storage and a $600,000 gift, which was supposed to go towards its permanent installation on a corner plot on the Palm Springs Art Museum’s campus.

The PSAM and its staff are however working closely with DW Johnson to address previously unforeseen mandates for ADA accessibility and temperature control, a process which will involve the refabrication of many of its metal panels and cost upwards of $2 million, according to the director’s statements in The Desert Sun.

Previously on Archinect: Albert Frey's Aluminaire House acquired by the Palm Springs Art Museum

“There’s a big difference between a building that’s installed temporarily for an exhibition and a permanent building,” museum director Adam Lerner explained of his institutional predicament. “[It] is like somebody left a puppy at your doorstep. And you’re like, well, I have other p...

Architensions takes over Coachella with a playful new subversion of vertical design

2022-04-18T18:02:00-04:00

After two years of cancellations and wait, the exciting re-opening of Coachella took place over the weekend with a new installation by Architensions titled The Playground.

The studio’s installation joins others by Estudio Normal, Kiki Van Eijk, Oana Stanescu, Christopher Cichocki, and LosDos and is meant to evoke a “vibrant urban landscape” based on the ideas of play expressed by the prolific Dutch intellectual Constant Nieuwenhuys in his visionary idea for a speculative anti-capitalist mecca called New Babylon.

Photo by Michael Vahrenwald/ESTO

Composed of four separate steel towers totaling 42 and 56 feet in height respectively, the installation hinges on a visual grid meant to “an open space that opposes the isolation and homogeneity of technologically mediated experiences” in ways similar to that of Cedric Price’s seminal early-60s Fun Palace design.

“The Playground is a fragment of a city,” Architensions co-founder Nick Roseboro explained, “a node for engaging festival-goers in ...

Edoardo Tresoldi's installation 'Monumento' opens the Chipperfield-restored Procuratie Vecchie with a timely message on fragility

2022-04-14T12:30:00-04:00

To coincide with the long-awaited public opening of Venice’s iconic Procuratie Vecchie, Italian artist Edoardo Tresoldi has produced an installation that helps highlight the mission and function of its newly reclaimed space.

Titled ‘Monumento’ and taking as its backdrop the 16th-century monumental staircase restored by David Chipperfield Architects as part of its five-year renovation project, the installation presents a subversion of the traditional thinking and rhetoric that surrounds monuments worldwide.

Image © Roberto Conte

Using his standby wire mesh material, Tresoldi was able to replicate past installations in New York and Abu Dhabi using the column itself as a kind of 50-foot-high metaphorical guidepost standing between societal values and contemporary life. Developed in collaboration with architect Carlotta Franco and with support from GICO Studio, the wrapped column is also meant to be as much in dialog with the space around it as it is expressive of a...

Artist Hew Locke will activate the Met facade with a quartet of trophy-like reflections on the museum's history and collection

2022-04-11T15:31:00-04:00

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced that Hew Locke will be the next artist featured in its provocative Facade Commission series.

The Guyanese-British artist’s effort is titled “Gilt” and will follow recent interventions by Carol Bove and Wangechi Mutu for the third version of the commission, which was begun in 2019 as the museum looked for new ways to engage its collections, history, and neoclassical exterior with the public and its newfound mandate for institutional self-reflection.

Hew Locke. Photo copyright Danny Cozens, 2020.

Architect Richard Hunt Morris was never fully able to realize his vision for the museum’s facade by the time of its completion in 1902. As a result, four extended niches were left empty until the commission began and will now showcase a quartet of trophy-like sculptures from Locke that are “informed by [his] deep knowledge of the Met’s collection and […] reference the institution in ways both direct and indirect,” according to Director Max Hollein....

Edoardo Tresoldi unveils wire mesh cathedral inspired by Dante’s Inferno

2021-09-03T13:02:00-04:00

Edoardo Tresoldi has unveiled the latest of his signature wire mesh cathedrals, with his installation titled “Sacral” currently on display in the Italian city of Ravenna. Designed for the Dante exhibition at the MAR, Ravenna’s art museum, Sacral is currently on display in the museum’s cloister until January 9th, 2022.

Photography: Roberto Conte

The installation forms part of “A POP Saga,” the third exhibition in the “Dante. The Eyes and the Mind” series at the MAR. In the design of Sacral, Tresoldi drew inspiration from the Noble Castle in Dante’s Inferno, a symbolic place inhabited by the souls of those who left honor and fame behind after death. “They are the great souls of antiquity,” says Tresoldi, “philosophers, poets, scientists and writers — with grave and slow-moving eyes. People who were great in their earthly lives because of their moral qualities but who are destined to eternal suffering because they lack the theological virtues.”

Photography: Roberto Conte

The installat...

MVRDV’s Marble Arch Mound is a magnet for public criticism

2021-07-30T17:58:00-04:00

MVRDV’s latest project is closing after just two days following a torrent of public backlash against the $3 million artificial earthen mound in Westminster, London.

The Marble Arch Mound opened earlier this week after an abbreviated construction period which began in early May. Commentators online were quick to point out the rather stark contrast between the project’s renderings at announcement and actual appearance upon delivery. Swaths of an exposed scaffolding base, an incomplete application of greenery, and a confounding maze of fences have left people to question the project’s cost, utility, and even meaning. Westminster City Council, the park’s operator, has apologized for the mishap in an unprecedented statement admitting to the mound’s “not ready” status and closing it to the public as a result.

Previously on Archinect: MVRDV creates temporary artificial hill near London's Hyde Park

Refunds are now being provided to the disheartened customers who were able to visit the struc...

Two new installations by Ma Yansong reflect MAD Architect's diverse artistic practice

2021-06-07T16:10:00-04:00

MAD Architects founder Ma Yansong has unveiled two new art installations across China for the summer. Together, they reinforce the firm’s multifaceted portfolio and approach to art and design.

"Light". Photo: Tian Fangfang

As part of “Art at Fuliang 2021”, an art festival in the Chinese city of Jingdezhen, Yansong presents “Light”. The festival aims to highlight the character and charm of Hanxi Village in Fuliang County. The region is defined by its porcelain industry, abundant water, and vast tea fields, which have shaped its landscape.

"Light". Photo: Tian Fangfang

“Light” appears to gently float above rolling tea fields. It is meant to be a medium for connecting to nature as it responds and adapts to changing settings. The piece can appear like a cloud in light and darkness, become translucent, glow, or meld with passing fog.

“Forma Fantasia” at Nine-Tiered Pagoda – Spatial and Visual Magic. Photo: MAD Architects

The second work was an exhibition design for “Forma Fantasia”, an i...

10 architectural installations & pavilions we liked this week

2021-05-28T13:48:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Installations.

Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles.

↑ Shiver House in Korppoo, Finland by NEON

↑ Wicker Pavilion in Annecy, France by DJA

↑ The Dancing Wall in Beijing, China by SaaN Architectural Design Consultancy, Inc.

↑ Outside-in Pavilion in Watermill, NY by Valerie Schweitzer Architects; Photo: Blaine Davis

↑ Immersive Space Series: Arches by Office of Things

↑ VORTEX in Silo City Row, Buffalo, NY by University at Buffalo students; Project Manager: Kimberly Taracena

↑ Playground in the outdoor gallery "Walking in the Clouds" in Suwon, South Korea by EUS+ARCHITECTS; Photo: Myungho Kang

↑ Super Temporary in Ann Arbor, MI by Synecdoche Design Studio

↑ K11 Fairyla...

A pavilion of facemasks and soda cans opens in Philadelphia, designed by SLO Architecture

2021-05-11T11:29:00-04:00

An installation by SLO Architecture has been unveiled in Camden, New Jersey, which repurposes 3600 facemasks into a dynamic façade and pavilion. “Turntable” will sit as a 6-month-long installation in Coopers Poynt Waterfront Park, facing the Delaware River and downtown Philadelphia, infusing reflections on history, waste, and public space in a post-pandemic world.

Image: SLO Architecture

The installation occupies a site which, during the 18th century, served as a critical infrastructure node for land and water-based transport along the Delaware River and the now-buried Windmill Island. From the 1980s until 2010, the site also served as a prison, thus separating the public from the waterfront. The design team’s vision was for an installation which invited activity back to the site, while also reflecting on the thematic history of unearthing, rediscovering, and reconsidering.

Image: SLO Architecture

SLO Architecture’s design features a dome made from thousands of the familiar blue f...

Ekene Ijeoma's latest public installation reflects on social inequality to create a place of 'sanctuary at a time of intense hardship and loss'

2021-03-19T15:09:00-04:00

"Between the ongoing struggles in the racial and political movements in the United States and the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be difficult to find the time and space to breathe deeply and rest well. I held my breath for most of last year..." — these are the words of Ekene Ijeoma, artist, professor of Media Arts and Science at MIT, and founder/director of the Poetic Justice group at MIT Media Lab.

On March 16, Ijeoma unveiled his public installation Breathing Pavilion to the public. Located at The Plaza at 300 Ashland in Brooklyn, the pavilion was co-produced by Van Alen Institute and the not-for-profit local development corporation Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.

Ekene Ijeoma is the founder of Studio Ijeoma. "Through both his studio and lab at MIT, Ijeoma researches social inequality across multiple fields including social science to develop artworks in sound, video, multimedia, sculpture and installation." Text courtesy of studioijeoma.com Photo: Kris Graves

Breathing Pavilion, Ekene...

MVRDV creates temporary artificial hill near London's Hyde Park

2021-02-16T12:00:00-05:00

MVRDV today revealed "Marble Arch Hill," a temporary installation next to London's Marble Arch. It is a hollowed-out mountain based on a scaffolding structure designed to create a rendered interest in the surrounding area, which connects Oxford Street and Hyde Park.

The design introduces a park-like landscape that climbs over the artificial mountain, giving visitors a 25-meter-tall viewpoint to see the surrounding area from a new perspective. Marble Arch Hill uses a scaffold structure on its base that will support the plywood and soil layers needed to hold the outer grass "skin."

"This project is a wonderful opportunity to give an impulse to a highly recognizable location in London," said MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas in a statement. "It’s a location full of contradictions, and our design highlights that. By adding this landscape element, we make a comment on the urban layout of the Marble Arch, and by looking to the site’s history, we make a comment on the area’s future. We enl...

Trio creates "The Anti-Extinction Library" installation in Brooklyn

2020-10-14T13:48:00-04:00

The Anti-Extinction Library is an installation that permanently shelters the embryonic cells and DNA of rare lifeforms. Created by TED Fellow artists Mitchell Joachim, Chris Woebken, and Oliver Medvedik, the piece seeks to address issues of species biodiversity diminishment through educating local citizens.

"Besides being cryogenically preserved, each strand of DNA has an embedded genetic maker that contains the entire 'Nature Bill of Rights' modified from the UN documents on human rights. These encoded markers support a narrative that all species are equal and all are necessary to a healthy planet," said the trio in a statement.

The installation sits on the East River at Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Edoardo Tresoldi's 2018 Coachella installation arrives in Rome

2020-10-12T10:53:00-04:00

Etherea, the installation created by Edoardo Tresoldi for the 2018 Coachella festival, has arrived in Rome for Back to Nature, an exhibition project curated by Constantino d'Orazio.

The work is made from three translucent sculptures reminiscent of Neoclassical and Baroque architecture. Contemplative in nature, Etherea focuses on the phenomenological aspects of architecture. The use of transparent wire mesh radiates a sense of mirage and the celestial.

Knowlton SoA exhibition examines architecture’s role in the Great Lakes Megalopolis

2020-09-09T15:52:00-04:00

A new exhibition at the Knowlton School of Architecture on The Ohio State University campus aims to explore the work of The Great Lakes Architectural Expedition, a fictional public architecture office that takes Lake Erie as its principal client.

Created by Knowlton LeFevre Visiting Assistant Professor of Architecture Galen Pardee, the exhibition uses archival models, drawings, documents, and studies to explore "the organizational structure of the Great Lakes Architectural Expedition itself, as well as early attempts by the Expedition’s Lake Erie Board to establish their roles as public advocates and draft the contours of non-human architect-client relationships," according to exhibition text.

"The Expedition’s mission has prompted a fundamental re-thinking of architecture’s role in the Great Lakes Megalopolis—engaging legal and physical terrains with equal dexterity, expanding architectural practice with non-human client structures, and transforming architects into agents for publ...

Edoardo Tresoldi's ethereal seafront colonnade opens this month

2020-09-02T12:21:00-04:00

Opera, the new public art permanent installation by Edoardo Tresoldi on Reggio Calabria's seafront, will be inaugurated on September 12th and 13th. The opening will host a series of music, performance, and poetry events administered in compliance with current COVID-19 guidelines.

"Opera was created to celebrate the contemplative relationship between place and the human being through the language of classical architecture and the transparency of the Absent Matter, a relationship through wire mesh," writes Tresoldi in a statement.

Previously on Archinect: Edoardo Tresoldi creates public colonnade consisting of 46 pillars in Italy. Image: Edoardo Tresoldi, Opera, original drawing © Edoardo Tresoldi.

The permanent installation consists of a colonnade of 46 pillars peaking at 8 meters at their highest points within a 2,500 square meter park. The project is due to become a new landmark for the region.

A terracotta block wall created by Mexican artist Héctor Zamora graces Met Museum roof

2020-08-31T16:30:00-04:00

A curving masonry block wall created by Mexican artist Héctor Zamora currently graces the rooftop terrace of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, which recently re-opened to the public after several months of COVID-19-related closures.

The installation is built from hundreds of extruded terracotta blocks "made of Mexican earth" that are stacked 11 feet high. The curving barrier is composed of blocks that have been turned on their side, exposing the complex patterning of the extrusion process used to create the units. This change in orientation allows for what would normally be seen as a solid mass to offer fragmented views through the barrier onto the surrounding landscape, be it the leafy trees in Central Park or the concrete, glass, and stone-wrapped towers that surround the museum.

A press release highlighting the installation tells us that the installation works to "create a response in viewers that communicates the impact of barriers: thwarting access to open, exp...

Step into a translucent replica of artist Do Ho Suh's NYC home at LACMA, starting next month

2019-10-18T15:45:00-04:00

Drawing from his own experiences of migration, esteemed artist Do Ho Suh is known for his monumental fabric installations that recreate his previous residences around the world, as his way of exploring the concept of home, personal identity, memory, and the architecture of domestic space. Recently, LACMA was recently gifted Suh's “348 West 22nd Street, Apartment A, Unit-2, Staircase” (2011-15). The museum will begin exhibiting the installation at the Resnick Pavilion starting November 10.

Do Ho Suh, Apartment A, Unit 2, Corridor and Staircase, 348 West 22nd Street, New York, NY 10011, USA (detail), 2011–2014, Polyester fabric and stainless steel tubes, Courtesy of the Artist, Lehmann Maupin New York, Hong Kong and Seoul, and MOCA Cleveland. Installation view, MOCA Cleveland, 2015. Photo: Jerry Birchfield.

Do Ho Suh, Apartment A, Unit 2, Corridor and Staircase, 348 West 22nd Street, New York, NY 10011, USA (detail), 2011-2014, Polyester fabric and stainless steel tubes, Apartment A, 2...

Pedro & Juana's “Hórama Rama” cyclorama opens at MoMA PS1

2019-06-28T14:15:00-04:00

After winning MoMA PS1's 2019 Young Architects Program this past March, “Hórama Rama” is now open to the public in time for summer festivities. Ana Paula Ruiz Galindo and Mecky Reuss of Mexico City-based studio Pedro & Juana designed the temporary installation as a 40-foot-high, 90-foot-wide cyclorama structure that immerses visitors into a jungle landscape.

Hórama Rama by Pedro & Juana, presented as part of the Young Architects Program 2019 at MoMA PS1. Image courtesy MoMA PS1. Photo: Kris Graves.

The cyclorama has a panoramic image of a jungle on scaffolding that sits above the PS1 courtyard, which reconfigures the courtyard space into an immersive environment that allows visitors to move in and out of. To add to that, the installation features a functioning, cooling waterfall and hammocks that were made in the south of Mexico. Wooden “bristles” protrude from the s...

First glimpse at Rockwell Group's "Lawn" installation opening at the National Building Museum this Summer

2019-05-01T10:04:00-04:00

Following successful iterations by Snarkitecture, Studio Gang, James Corner Field Operations, and BIG, the National Building Museum's Summer Block Party is back this year with an immersive installation designed by the LAB at Rockwell Group.

For this year's party, the experimental design studio will be bringing a quintessentially American ideal to the Museum's Great Hall. As visitors enter the space, they will be greeted by a building-sized mural of the sky, that then leads them to a sloping green space with interactive hammocks. Recreating a giant yard as the installation's title "Lawn" suggests, the space will accommodate popular summer activities such as movie nights and yoga that are often hosted in parks during the summer months.

Rendering by the LAB at Rockwell Group.

“The lawn is a fascinating example of a typology that straddles the line between public and private space,” said David Rockwell, founder and president, Rockwell Group. “Whether it is a backyard or a public green, ...

SelgasCano's 2015 Serpentine Pavilion is coming to LA this summer

2019-04-24T16:25:00-04:00

After a successful run in London's Hyde Park back in 2015, SelgasCano's' rainbow-tunnel Serpentine Pavilion is making its way to the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles starting June 28. London-based Second Home teamed up with the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County to bring out the installation, which will host a series of free public events exploring art, design, science, and nature.

Serpentine Pavilion designed by SelgasCano 2015. Photo: Iwan Baan

Set to be built at the park adjacent to the tourist hot-spot La Brea Tar Pits museum, the 866-square-foot pavilion will be a polygonal structure covered in a multi-colored, translucent fabric membrane that will create an immersive, stained-glass environment.

Serpentine Pavilion designed by SelgasCano 2015. Photo: Iwan Baan

Visitors can enter and exit at multiple points to experience the structure's interior in various ways “characterized by color, light and irregular shapes with surprising volumes,” SelgasCano previously described....

SOFTLab's Mirror Mirror installation opens at Alexandria's revamped waterfront

2019-04-01T14:15:00-04:00

'Mirror Mirror', a public installation designed by SOFTlab, opened over the weekend alongside Alexandria, Virginia's revamped Waterfront Park. The 8-foot-tall, interactive piece is the inaugural project for the city's public art series which is a key part of efforts to enrich the experience of the waterfront along the Potomac River.

"We were inspired by the architecture of the lighthouse and how it uses a lenticular lens to cast light, panoramically connecting land and sea," says artist and architect Michael Szivos of SOFTlab as their newest public installation opens.

For 'Mirror Mirror', the New York-based studio, whose expertise ranges from digital fabrication to immersive and interactive installations, decided to take a note from the nearby Jones Point Lighthouse, which uses a special type of device called the Fresnel lens to emit light.

Photo by Alan Tansey.

Playing with reflection and refraction, the installation is set up as a 25-foot-long open circle. On the outside, monochro...

Pedro&Juana's immersive jungle setting selected for MoMA PS1's 2019 Young Architects Program exhibition

2019-03-07T13:19:00-05:00

The Mexico City-based practice Pedro&Juana has been selected as the winner of MoMA PS1's 2019 Young Architects Program. Run by Ana Paula Ruiz Galindo & Mecky Reuss, the duo's winning entry, titled Hórama Rama, beat out proposals by fellow finalists Matter Design, TO, Oana Stănescu and Akane Moriyama, and Low Design Office.

Pedro&Juana's installation in the Chicago Cultural Center. Photo by Steve Hall, copyright Hedrich Blessing courtesy of the Chicago Architecture Biennial.

Known for their experimental social spaces, the emerging firm has proven consistent with projects such as Dear Randolph (2015), their distinct interior design for a lounge at the 2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial; The Natural Order of Things (2016), an exhibition display at the Jumex Museum; and With Love From The Tropics (2016-2017), an urban garden installation for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chica...

National Building Museum partners with The LAB at Rockwell Group for 2019 "Summer Block Party" installation

2019-01-30T13:38:00-05:00

For its 2019 Summer Block Party exhibition, the National Building Museum has reenlisted Rockwell Group's experience design studio the LAB to transform the museum's atrium. The New York-based architecture firm also designed the museum's 2012 exhibit Play Work Build, one of NBM's most highest-attending events ever.

Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, design by the LAB at Rockwell Group.

David Rockwell's 10-year old experimental studio has become known for their narrative-based experiences in physical spaces and digital-physical hybrids. One of the projects that brought them to prominence was their design for The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, where the lobby pillars are wrapped with animated digital content. The firm is currently working alongside Diller Scofidio + Renfro on the highly-anticipated Shed project.

For this year's Summer Block Party installation, the team will re-envision the museum's historic home as the Lawn, details for which are still forthcoming. Since its beginning six years ago...

SOFTlab designs a mesmerizing public installation that pays homage to a classic lighthouse in Alexandria, Virginia

2019-01-24T20:10:00-05:00

Located along the Potomac River in the city of Alexandria, Virginia an open circled public installation will draw visitors into its immersive and interactive display. Michael Szivos, the founder of SOFTlab design studio, took inspiration from local lighthouses to create a 25ft in diameter and 8ft high public installation. The New York-based design studio uses color and light to create Mirror Mirror. According to Szivos "Mirror Mirror will act as a beacon, beckoning visitors to venture into the new King Street Park at the Waterfront, interact with the artwork and explore and enjoy the new public plaza and civic space."

Mirror Mirror will be the first commissioned art piece for Alexandria's Site/See: New Views in Old Town initiative. The annual series is set to display temporary installations that promote visitor attraction and foster public interaction within Alexandria's rich waterfront views. Through the use of light reflection and refraction, Mirror M...

SHED's “Ghost Cabin” honors a historic Seattle site with a playful mystery

2018-10-17T14:15:00-04:00

SHED Architecture & Design's Ghost Cabin isn't exactly a haunted house like its name suggests. The new courtyard art installation pays tribute to a site dubbed “Grandma's House” in the Chophouse Row development in Seattle's Capitol Hill. While building the Chophouse Row in 2013, contractors unearthed the mysterious site, which revealed the foundation of a small house that was once part of a late 19th-century pioneer settlement. The contractors then nicknamed the structure “Grandma's House” because whenever the Chophouse Row ran into construction delays, they would joke that “Grandma's ghost” had returned to slow down their progress.

In 2017, Chophouse Row owner and developer Liz Dunn commissioned an art installation for the courtyard above Grandma's House that had to create a sense of community as well as respect the site's history.

Photo: Rafael Soldi.

In response to that, SHED proposed the Ghost Cabin, whose name was inspired by the Grandma's House story. While designing the artw...

Frida Escobedo's Serpentine Pavilion sold to spa company Therme

2018-10-09T13:26:00-04:00

The [pavilion] will now be displayed in ‘selected locations’ as part of the Therme Art Program, which was set up to fulfill artistic and architectural ’visions that cannot be realised in galleries or museum spaces: no matter how complex their production, installation and long-term maintenance may be’. Serpentine Galleries chief executive Yana Peel and artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist said in a joint statement that they were ‘delighted’ by the purchase.