Text description provided by the architects. This holiday season, wedged between two New York City icons - the Flatiron and Empire State building - stands the #NewYorkLight public art installation by Brooklyn-based INABA. A magnificent place to experience the Manhattan grid, the installation frames a unique and uninterrupted view of the skyline due to the clearing of Madison Square Park.
“Our public art installation ‘New York Light’ pays tribute to the special urban experiences from this one-of-a-kind vantage point. Designed to echo the form of the plaza’s namesake building, the prow of the structure frames the Flatiron. At the other end, the steel tube installation opens northward on Broadway outlining a view of the Empire State,” describes INABA.
“Hundreds of mirror-finished panels hang from the structure so visitors standing inside can see these views surrounded by partial reflections of the immediate neighborhood. For the city that never sleeps, animated LEDs illuminate the structure at night inviting opportunities to take photos with friends or of oneself with the plaza’s urban landscape in the background.
“In addition to offering passersby with these perspectives, ‘New York Light’ serves as an illuminated backdrop for events. Performers stand at the north end while the structure provides a visual buffer to traffic along 23rd St.
“The area’s beautiful evening light comes from the many residential buildings facing the plaza. They cast a glow that’s softer than in the flashier more commercial squares along Broadway with a hue that is more indicative of the public spaces in the city’s many residential neighborhoods. It’s this quality that ‘New York Light’ tries to replicate and literally reflect this holiday season.”
-
Architects: INABA
- Year: 2014
-
Photographs:Zhonghan Huang, Naho Kubota , Cameron Blaylock , INABA
