Studio Klimoski Chang Architects’ ‘Head in the Clouds’ won the third annual City of Dreams Pavilion Competition. Pending approvals, the project will be assembled on Governors Island next spring, and will be open to the public for the summer 2013 season.
Designers Jason Klimoski, AIA, and Lesley Chang of Studio Klimoski Chang Architects kept sustainability in mind when designing Head in the Clouds. The structure’s armature will be made from 1.5″ aluminum tubes that use less material and are easier to transport than more traditional materials such as wood. All the materials will be recyclable in an effort to limit the carbon footprint.
Klimoski and Chang will work with schools and local organizations, including New York Road Runners and NYCRUNS, to collect the 53,780 milk jugs and water bottles needed to create Head in the Clouds. The jugs will be used to create 120 “pillows” that will give the cloud its bumpy, organic shape. The bottles, accentuated with organic food coloring and water, will create the interior’s blue hue.
Head in the Clouds will offer visitors the chance to walk into the clouds, experiencing them from the inside out. Clouds are collections of water and movement that seem to form animals, people, and cities by dreamers gazing at the sky. With their ‘heads in the clouds’ sky gazers visualize fantastical shapes, ideas, and spaces. The City of Dreams Pavilion is a place dedicated to dreaming, and this year’s winning project exemplifies this ideal. This project will create a venue where visitors can lose themselves in both the cloud-like structure, as well as the clouds in the sky around them.
The jury was organized by FIGMENT, the Emerging New York Architect Committee (ENYA) of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter (AIANY), and the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY) and included the following: Vicki Arbitrio, PE, Associate Partner, Gilsanz Murray Steficek; Kai-Uwe Bergmann, AIA, LEED AP, RIBA, MAA, Partner, BIG Bjarke Ingels Group; Marc Clemenceau Bailly, AIA, Partner, Gage / Clemenceau Architects; Marc Kushner, AIA, Co-founder, HWKN Architects; Michael Loverich, Partner; Bittertang, 2011 City of Dreams Pavilion designer and Kristen Richards, Hon. AIA, Hon. ASLA, Editor-in-Chief, Oculus, ArchNewsNow. Ada Tolla, Int’l Assoc. AIA, partner at LOT-EK acted as Pavilion Mentor for the competition, consulting with each finalist team as they prepared their final submissions.
The jury initially reviewed nearly 200 design proposal submissions before selecting five finalists who each had three months to further develop their designs in response to the jury’s comments.
The other finalists and their projects included: A cloud, in a Tree designed by SAMPLES, Julien Boitard and Richard Nguyen; The Enneper Pavilion designed by Maria Mingallon; Fodder Form Pavilion designed by HuycKurlanDowling, Teddy Huyck, Alexis Kurland and Conner Dowling and For Rent designed by MTWTHFSS, Ed Blumer and Pete Storey.
FIGMENT is a free participatory arts event held in multiple cities each year and celebrates an abundance of creativity and passion, challenging artists and our communities to find new ways to create, share, think, and dream. It is now accepting donations to support the fabrication, installation, and maintenance of Head in the Clouds on Governors Island. To make a donation, click here.
