Their most recent work opens in July on Long Island and although it only lasts the summer, offers a solution that is so perfect in its simplicity that it seems destined to have other future applications. It is a new temporary pavilion for P.S.1, part of MoMA, that each summer invites a number of young talents to invent a new way to exploit the courtyard of the museum to host a packed programme of musical performances. A budget of 70,000 dollars is available for building it.
Obra Architects’ design “Beatfuse”, is a soft and fluid series of roofs supported on a curved timber structure that creates three enclosed spaces. Each of these, like a Turkish hammam, will have a different temperature: a frigidarium offers relief from the torrid New York summer, a caldarium and tepidarium will provide evocative atmospheres with steam and heat. The design is based on the use of reflective and insulating Radiant Guard™ panels. Initially developed by NASA to create a thermal barrier for astronauts spacesuits, the panels reflect 95 percent of radiant heat.
Shortlisted alongside Obra were designs by Contemporary Architecture Practice (New York), Gnuform (Los Angeles), Howeler+Yoon (Boston), Sotamaa Architecture & Design (Columbus). E.S.
