Thursday, February 7, 2008

P.S. 1 Goes Green!


“For us it’s an opportunity to create an exciting structure,” Ms. Andraos said of the project, “but also to talk about issues and ideas — to be engaged with the world.”


I have always loved heading over to Long Island City, whether it's to check out the Phun Factory, head to Socrates Sculpture Park, or see what's cooking at P.S. 1. I ca't get enough of the wackiness of the converted public school building: whether it's a room with a gigantic plastic T-rex balloon, or a video showing of Bjork videos, or a three-story spiral slide, I eat it up.


Today, I was reading the New York Times online, and I saw that this summer, PS 1 has outdone itself. From the article:


The proposal by Dan Wood and Amale Andraos, the husband-and-wife duo behind Work Architecture, was clearly a departure from previous design proposals to transform the courtyard of the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City, Queens for a summer. But the urban farm concept — including an abundance of fresh produce and a genuine harvesting plan — was apparently just too darn offbeat to pass up.


That's right, an urban farm as a motif for the winning proposal for the Young Architects Program, which selects a theme and design for the summer dance and dj summer sessions on Saturdays throughout the summer.


The design calls for all sorts of funky, weird, and fresh components.


For example:


There will be two sound columns — one that plays farm sounds when you sit down, another in which you can look upward, see stars and hear crickets. There is a phone-charging column, a children’s grotto of columns with swings, an herb-growing column with circulating fans dispersing scents like basil or lavender, and a juicer column where fresh juice will be made and sold.


Check out the farm in the city at P.S. 1 in Long Island City, coming this summer. I hope to see you there.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That is very cool.