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 MOIRÉ.
BEATFUSE! is this year's site of the popular Warm Up series, a summer ritual celebrating music, art and architecture which joins thousands of New Yorkers in a moment of togetherness, likened to the beatmatched tunes of DJs who play to the crowds every Saturday in the PS1 courtyard.
The outdoor space has been designed as three climatic zones suggestive of the ancient configuration of the Roman thermae: the Tepidarium with its moiré shade from a skin of polypropylene mesh scales overhead, evaporative pools and misters, the small square gallery of the Frigidarium lined with foil insulation and ice block benches, and the Caldarium with its array of radial chaise lounges for sunbathing around the large soaking pool.
This project is about the people of New York City, both as a whole and considered individually. We propose the construction of a structure of pervasive interiority, a context to be entered and experienced from within rather than observed from without as object. The space is partially covered with 10 concertina shells manufactured and assembled in a workshop and later deployed on site. The concertina are covered with a skin of polypropylene mesh scales. They allow wind and rain to move through them without excessively taxing the structure with lateral or lifting loads while providing soft penumbral shade. The inexpensive material has been chosen because it is rigid enough to return to its original position after the wind dies down and yet flexible enough to seamlessly adjust to the curved surfaces of the concertina while overlapping in ways that generate gently nuanced patterns of moiré texture.
Within the constraints of a modest budget and tight design and construction schedule, the entire project was conceived as a paperless project, modeled and manufactured digitally via CNC routing and lasercutting. Each component is different, all parts assembled at varying heights, positions and angles, yet continuity materializes in the 19 steel hangers, 16 brackets and 8 footing brackets which adjust to the conditions of each connection, allowing wood beams to connect to each other, to the ground, and the concrete courtyard walls, which could not be permanently altered for this temporary installation. The project aims to envelop the inhabitant, pushing the experience towards an interiority that suggests a bridge between the realm of art and that of architecture, a context to be entered and experienced from within rather than observed from without as object.
