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Wall of skateboard offcuts wins MoMA/PS1 Young Architects Program 2013

News: American studio CODA has won this year's MoMA/PS1 Young Architects Program competition and will insert a wall made from skateboard offcuts into the courtyard of the PS1 Contemporary Art Centre in New York.

Party Wall by CODA at PS1

The Young Architects Program is an annual contest organised by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) that invites emerging studios to propose a temporary installation that can host the summer events of the PS1 Contemporary Art Centre.

CODA's winning proposal, entitled Party Wall, is for a linear structure that will incorporate events spaces, seating areas, stages and projections areas, as well as pools of water that will function as "cooling stations".

Party Wall by CODA at PS1

The installation will have a steel frame weighted down by a system of water-filled polyester pillows. More water will stream along the top of the wall, turning the structure into a large fountain, and clouds of mist will be generated from the water to cool down visitors during the hot summer season.

The interlocking cladding panels will be made from wooden offcuts donated by a skateboard manufacturer and some of them will be removable and used to build tables and benches.

Party Wall by CODA at PS1

"CODA's proposal was selected because of its clever identification and use of locally available resources - the waste products of skateboard-making - to make an impactful and poetic architectural statement within MoMA PS1's courtyard," said MoMA curator Pedro Gadanho. "Party Wall arches over the various available spaces, activating them for different purposes, while making evident that even the most unexpected materials can always be reinvented to originate architectural form and its ability to communicate with the public."

PS1 director Klaus Biesenbach added: "CODA developed an outstanding, iconic design that will support the many social functions connected to our large-scale group exhibition EXPO 1: New York, while creating a unique and stunning object for our outdoor galleries."

Party Wall by CODA at PS1

CODA is an experimental design and research studio led by architect and university professor Caroline O'Donnell.

Party Wall is set to open in Long Island City at the end of June.

At Ps1 last year HWKN created a giant blue spiky sculpture that helped to clean the air, which has since been relocated to Abu Dhabi. Other installations at the gallery include a twisted rope canopy and a set of swinging poles.

See more stories about PS1 and MoMA »

Here's the full press release:


CODA selected as winner of the 2013 Young Architects Program AT MoMA PS1 in New York

CODA'S Party Wall to Provide the Setting for the Warm Up Summer Music Series in the Courtyard of MoMA PS1

The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1 announce CODA (Caroline O'Donnell, Ithaca, NY) as the winner of the annual Young Architects Program (YAP) in New York. Now in its 14th edition, the Young Architects Program at MoMA and MoMA PS1 is committed to offering emerging architectural talent the opportunity to design and present innovative projects, challenging each year's winners to develop creative designs for a temporary, outdoor installation at MoMA PS1 that provides shade, seating, and water. The architects must also work within guidelines that address environmental issues, including sustainability and recycling. CODA, drawn from among five finalists, will design a temporary urban landscape for the 2013 Warm Up summer music series in MoMA PS1's outdoor courtyard.

The winning project, Party Wall, opening at MoMA PS1 in Long Island City in late June, is a pavilion and flexible experimental space that uses its large-scale, linear form to provide shade for the Warm Up crowds, in addition to other functions.

The porous façade is affixed to a tall self-supporting steel frame that is balanced in place with large fabric containers filled with water, and clad with a screen of interlocking wooden elements donated by Comet, an Ithaca-based manufacturer of eco-friendly skateboards.

The lower portion of the Party Wall's façade is capable of shedding its "exterior," as 120 panels can be detached from the structure and used as benches and communal tables during Warm Up and other diverse events and programs such as lectures, classes, performances, and film screenings.

A shallow stage of reclaimed wood weaves around Party Wall's base to create a series of micro-stages for performances of varying types and scales. At various locations under the structure, pools of water serve as refreshing cooling stations that can also be covered to provide additional staging space or a shaded area from the direct sunlight.

Party Wall's steel-angle structure is ballasted by water-filled "pillows" made of polyester base fabric that will be lit at night to produce a luminous effect. Party Wall acts as an aqueduct by carrying a stream of water along the top of the structure. The water is projected from the structure, via a pressure-tank, into a fountain that feeds a misting station and a series of pools.

The other finalists for this year's MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program were Leong Architects (New York, NY, Dominic Leong, Chris Leong); Moorhead & Moorhead (New York, NY, Granger Moorhead, Robert Moorehead); TempAgency (Charlottesville, VA, and Brooklyn, NY, Leena Cho, Rychlee Espinosa, Matthew Jull, Seth McDowell); and French 2D (Boston, MA, and Syracuse, NY, Anda French, Jenny French).