Winning design team to construct an architectural pavilion of swing structures on Roosevelt Island out of scrap cross-laminated timber from a University of Arkansas construction project.

A distinguished jury has selected the winning design in the seventh annual City of Dreams Pavilion Competition: Salvage Swings by Somewhere Studio led by co-founders and principals Jessica Colangelo and Charles Sharpless, AIA. Pending approvals and fundraising, this temporary art structure will be assembled on Roosevelt Island and open to the public for the summer 2019 season.

The annual competition is hosted by FIGMENT, the Emerging New York Architects Committee (ENYA) of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter (AIANY), and the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY). The City of Dreams Pavilion, so named for its focus on the future of a world that faces strains on both economic and natural resources, aims to promote sustainability-oriented thinking amidst the architecture and design communities, requiring designers to consider the environmental impact of their designs from materials sourcing to disposal (or ideally reuse) of waste at the end of the season.

Salvage Swings utilizes scrap cross-laminated timber panels salvaged from an ongoing construction project at the University of Arkansas to create a fun and inviting summer pavilion. The pavilion is constructed of 12 swing modules that frame the swinger and the swinger’s view. The swings are made of cross-laminated timber panels and held together with an oversized finger joint. The swings are identical in size but are made unique through a playful patterning of painted hatches and windows. The material cut-out of the panels for the windows is reused for the swing seats. For the summer pavilion, the modules are organized in a triangular form to enabling community swinging, covered seating areas, a playground for hide-and-seek games, and a generous central gathering space for community events. The modular design allows for the swings to be easily separated following the summer events and relocated as individual swings to parks and schools across New York City.

The team will work with FIGMENT, ENYA, SEAoNY, the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design and the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation to select the exact site for Salvage Swings, refine the design, obtain necessary approvals, and fabricate and install the pavilion on the island.

Salvage Swings is accepting tax-deductible donations to support the fabrication, installation, and maintenance of the pavilion on Roosevelt Island for the 2018 summer season. Donations can be made to the project’s Kickstarter campaign by following this link: http://kck.st/2SRRqb3

2019 City of Dreams Pavilion Jury:

·       Hayley Eber, Studio Eber

·       Joann Gonchar, FAIA, LEED AP, Senior Editor, Architectural Record

·       Amy Mielke, Project Architect, Ennead

·       Pascale Sablan, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP, S9 Architecture

Lisa Ramsburg, Designer at Schlaich Bergermann Partner, will serve as a design mentor to the finalists and winning design team.

All images to be credited to:

Somewhere Studio LLC

About the Team

Somewhere Studio is an architecture practice based in Fayetteville, Arkansas and led by co-founders Jessica Colangelo and Charles Sharpless. Through commissioned projects, research and exhibitions, the team approaches architecture as a stage for conversation between clients and designers, rooms and details and buildings and the city. For more information about Somewhere Studio, visit http://somewherestudio.com

Jessica Colangelo is an architectural designer and Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas. Jessica received a Master of Architecture from Princeton University where she was awarded the Suzanne Kolarik Underwood Prize and a Bachelor of Architecture from Rice University where she received the AIA School Medal. Prior to forming Somewhere Studio, she practiced at Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects, Office dA and Carlos Jiménez Studio.

Charles Sharpless, AIA is a licensed architect, Lecturer at the University of Arkansas (UA) and Project Architect at the UA Community Design Center. Charles received a Master of Architecture from Harvard University Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Architecture from Rice University. Prior to forming Somewhere Studio, he practiced at Michael Maltzan Architecture, Studio Hillier, Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects and Machado Silvetti.

Somewhere Studio will develop the project design over the next few months in collaboration with Guy Nordenson Associates, TM Light, and the generous support of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design.

About the City of Dreams Pavilion Competition

Since 2010, FIGMENT has teamed with the Emerging New York Architects Committee (ENYA) of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter (AIANY) and the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY) to host a competition to design and construct an architectural pavilion. The competition began on Governors Island, and has moved to Roosevelt Island for the 2019 season. Salvage Swings, the winning pavilion for the eighth cycle of the competition, will be installed on Governors Island for the 2019 summer season, from June through late August.

The City of Dreams Pavilion will be a gathering place for people to meet, learn about the arts programs on the island, enjoy a performance or lecture, and experience how art interacts with the historic context of Governors Island. The competition’s theme, the City of Dreams, points toward the future. If we imagine a future New York City where anything is possible, what does it look like? In our wildest and most optimistic dreams, what is the future of the city? The current state of the world is such that both economic and natural resources are constrained like never before. New ways of thinking are necessary to solve the problems faced by the world. The City of Dreams Pavilion asks entrants to design a temporary structure in the most efficient and sustainable way possible. Entrants are asked to consider the entire life cycle of building materials. Whether they do this by identifying companies that produce “cradle to cradle” products, garnering sponsorships from environmental or socially conscious groups, or re-using waste from construction sites, the materials used and the installation process should have as little impact as possible on the environment. In the end, the goal is to create a pavilion that has net zero impact and that serves as a prototype for a new, truly sustainable way of thinking about design and construction.

About FIGMENT

FIGMENT catalyzes and celebrates an abundance of creativity and passion, challenging artists and our communities to find new ways to create, share, think, and dream. FIGMENT’s free annual participatory arts event began in New York City in 2007 and has expanded to have hosted 69 events in 20 cities in 5 countries to date, engaging over 100,000 people a year in roughly a dozen cities. In New York, FIGMENT hosts a weekend-long participatory art event and an annual summer-long exhibition on Governors Island. For more information, visit http://figmentproject.org.

FIGMENT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization entirely funded by grants and individual donations. FIGMENT accepts no corporate sponsorship of any kind. FIGMENT NYC is supported by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, as well as by the Fund for Creative Communities, supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. 

About AIANY ENYA

It is the goal of the Emerging New York Architects Committee to encourage membership, participation, and leadership in the AIANY Chapter among intern architects, young architects (licensed ten years or less), and emerging professionals in the fields of design and construction. The committee engages NYC’s diverse emerging design professionals through lectures, design competitions, and networking opportunities, with a focus on Professional Development, Design Excellence, and Public Outreach.

Founded in 1857, AIA New York is the oldest and largest chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The Chapter’s members include more than 5,500 practicing architects, allied professionals, students, and public members interested in architecture and design. AIA New York is dedicated to three goals: design excellence, public outreach, and professional development. www.aiany.org

About SEAoNY

SEAoNY is a member organization of the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations. Presently, 39 states and the District of Columbia have structural engineers’ associations, the largest of which is SEAOC, Structural Engineers Association of California, which was founded in 1930 and presently has approximately 4000 members.

The association sponsors workshops, panel discussions, lectures and seminars with the aim of addressing topics of interest and concern to structural engineers. Our membership, which is over 500 members, includes individuals from most major structural engineering design firms in New York State. SEAoNY also reaches out to other professionals, outside the engineering community, who work in related fields with common interests. Currently, 10% of our membership are affiliate members who come from a variety of disciplines such as geotechnical, civil, construction management and architecture. The purpose of SEAoNY is to advance the art of structural engineering in New York by improving the flow of ideas and building the community of colleagues. www.seaony.org

About Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design

The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas houses professional design programs of architecture, landscape architecture and interior design together with liberal studies programs. All of these programs combine studio design education with innovative teaching in history, theory, technology and urban design. A broad range of course offerings equips graduates with the knowledge and critical agility required to meet the challenges of designing for a changing world. Their training prepares students with critical frameworks for design thinking that also equip them to assume leadership roles in the profession and in their communities. The school’s architecture program was ranked 26th in the nation, and the 12th best program among public, land-grant universities, in the 16th Annual Survey of America’s Best Architecture and Design Schools, a study conducted in 2015 by the Design Futures Council and published in Design Intelligence. For more information, visit fayjones.uark.edu.