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Colorful canopy and reflective wading pool will debut at MoMA PS1 this June

MoMA PS1 announced its 2016 Young Architects Program winner.
Photos courtesy of Escobedo Solíz Studio

This summer, MoMA PS1 in Long Island City will be home to yet another cool art project: Escobedo Solíz Studio‘s “Weaving the Courtyard,” a textured canopy and wading pool.

Lazbent Pavel Escobedo and Andres Solíz are the winners of the 2016 Young Architects Program, which offers “emerging architectural talent the opportunity to design and present innovative projects” for a temporary outdoor installation at the museum, according to a press release. The program guidelines also call for designs that address environmental issues such as sustainability and recycling.

Escobedo and Solíz describe their design as “neither an object nor a sculpture standing in the courtyard, but a series of simple, powerful actions that generate new and different atmospheres.”

The architects will install a canopy or “cloud” made of contrasting yet colorful ropes along the existing concrete walls in the courtyard. The ropes, made of varying densities, will provide shade to visitors and can be re-used after installation.

MoMA PS1’s courtyard is also home to the museum’s “Warm Up Summer Music Series,” which aims to introduce people to experimental live music and DJs from around the world.

“Escobedo Solíz’s ingenious proposal speaks to both the ephemerality of architectural imagery today but also to the nature of spatial transactions more broadly,” said Sean Anderson, associate curator in MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design. “From the evocative woven canopy that will engage visitors overhead to a reflective wading pool, Weaving the Courtyard sensitively brings together elements of MoMA PS1’s Warm Up Series with an exuberant collection of zones and environments.”

Escobedo Solíz Studio is a Mexico-based architect studio founded in 2011. The duo won a Holcim Award for Sustainable Construction after rebuilding Laguna Chapel and community center in Campeche, Mexico, using recycled wood from the chapel and other buildings. The site also uses passive ventilation, rainwater collection and cleaned water from the nearby polluted lagoon.

The project will be installed in June.