Friday, January 22, 2016

Buhl Community Park

Buhl Community Park 

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania


After winning first place in a national competition, ACLA ushered the design for this public park, adjacent to the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum, through its opening day in 2012. The design respects and highlights the historic importance of the site at the same time as it breathes fresh life into the plaza. After reconnecting the historic city grid that was destroyed during 1960’s-era ‘urban renewal’ efforts, the park is once again the public gathering area it once was for Allegheny City.

Important design features such as a bioswale and native planting educate visitors about sustainability, while an interactive art installation activates the space and fosters a connection with the nearby Children’s Museum. Emphasizing species native to the waterways, woodlands, and meadows of Pittsburgh’s region, the planting design for Allegheny Public Square connects visitors with the experiential qualities of the local ecosystems while also processing the plaza’s storm-water. ACLA assembled and managed a large team of designers and engineers to meet the unique challenges of building this park.

Collaboration with a public artist to develop the site-specific installation, fully integrated into the park, was an important aspect of the design process. The resulting art piece by Ned Kahn consists of a grid of 64 stainless steel poles that emit fog with water fed from the steam heating system of Pittsburgh. An ethereal hovering sphere floats above the park’s surface.










Friday, January 15, 2016

Wonder

Folding the Chesapeake detail




WONDER, the opening exhibition at the newly renovated Renwick Gallery, features site-specific installations that transform the galleries into a contemporary “cabinet of wonders.” Nine major contemporary artists, Jennifer Angus, Chakaia Booker, Gabriel Dawe, Tara Donovan, Patrick Dougherty, Janet Echelman, John Grade, Maya Lin, and Leo Villareal, are installing work that responds to the architectural spaces of this national historic landmark. Each artist “takes over” one gallery in the building so that the museum as a whole becomes one immersive artwork. Eight of these works are new, inspired by and crafted exclusively for the Renwick.


The featured artists were selected for their ability to transform spaces through installation, for their focus on how visitors experience that space, and especially for their abiding interest in process and materials, aligning them with the Renwick’s mission to showcase the best in American craft.


Volume (Renwick)


In the Midnight Garden


In the Midnight Garden detail


ANONYMOUS DONOR


Plexus A1




Untitled




Shindig


1.8


 Middle Fork


Check it out. This will be on Exhibit until July 10th 2016 at the Renwick Gallery
17th & Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC
http://www.si.edu/Exhibitions/Details/Wonder-5785

Friday, January 8, 2016


It’s cold outside, but let’s play


Just in case you haven’t heard of the Montreal’s apocryphal underground winter city (like me), don’t worry it’s regarded as folklore.  However, the organizers of The Quartier des Spectacles are pleased to announce the installation of Impluse, the work that will take over the Place des Festivals this winter for the sixth annual edition of Luminothérapie. The premise behind Luminothérapie is to bring people out onto the streets - despite the temperatures.


 
 
Impulse is an interactive work comprising seesaws of various sizes, with lighting and sound. They are activated, when one person sits down on each end. The seesaws, which are fitted with LED lights and speakers, then produce a series of beautiful sounds. The intensity of the light varies as the board’s angle changes. The installation and its streamlined design is a delight for children and adults alike, as they play with the sounds and lighting effects it produces.  During one of Montreal’s coldest times of the year, where the days are short and the lights are long and dark, this exhibit fills the Place des Festivals with the dance of sounds and lights, bringing joy and warmth.


The creative consortium will also produce video projections for the nine permanent projection sites in the Quartier des Spectacles. Two Montreal-based artists will be responsible for the projections: Maotik and Iregular, with soundtracks for the projections and for the Place des Festivals by Toronto-based artist Mitchell Akiyama.

Impulse a participatory creation by the firms Lateral Office, and CS Design, in collaboration with EGP Group.
 
YouTube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCEGdzlZ7iQ&feature=player_embedded


 
PLACE DES FESTIVALS (December 10, 2015 to January 31, 2016)

From Sunday to Wednesday: 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.
From Thursday to Sunday: 12 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Seesaws design: Lateral Office et CS Design, in collaboration with EGP Group
Sound design: Mitchell Akiyama
Mechanical design and Production: Générique Design
Electronic production and interactivity: Robocut Studio


References:

1.        METROPOLIS, January 2016
    2.        Quartier Des Spectacles Montreal (website)http://www.quartierdesspectacles.com/en/event/130/luminotherapie