Dezeen Magazine

Marc Fornes creates pink "envelope of experiential tension" for Situation Room installation

Perforated pink aluminium panels form a sinuous structure that envelops visitors to this installation by French architect Marc Fornes, his studio The Very Many and sound artist Jana Winderen (+ slideshow).

Marc Fornes and The Very Many

Located at the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York, Marc Fornes' bright pink installation is built from thin perforated panels of aluminium.

Marc Fornes and The Very Many

The Situation Room was created by combining twenty spherical shapes into a continuous curving membrane using boolean mathematical operations.

Marc Fornes and The Very Many

"The overall form is an aggregate of twenty spheres of incremental diameters, combined to create an envelope of experiential tension, a sort of sublime dialogue between the comfort of the known and an uneasy interaction with the unknown," said Fornes

Marc Fornes and The Very Many

Where the spheres meet, the joints have been smoothed out to create double curvatures that provide structural rigidity.

Marc Fornes and The Very Many

This forms a series of coves, niches, tunnels and openings in the envelope for visitors to walk through. Columns that extending down from the canopy carry some of the load of the structure.

Marc Fornes and The Very Many

Lighting is used outside the aluminium skin to illuminate the sculptural form.

Marc Fornes and The Very Many

Lights inside create a bright environment and shine out through the small holes in the shell, dappling patterns across the surfaces around the room.

Marc Fornes and The Very Many

Jana Winderen engineered 10 resonant sounds to be propagated across the membrane – turning the installation into an instrument.

Marc Fornes and The Very Many

"Spatial envelope, acoustic-membrane, structural-performance, assembly-parts and distributed lighting are unified and amalgamated through a coat of neon-effect, blurring one's perception of the known," said Fornes.

Marc Fornes and The Very Many

The installation will remain in place until 21 November.