Socrates Sculpture Park and The Architectural League of New York have announced that Austin+Mergold have won “Folly 2014” – an annual competition among emerging architects to design and build a large-scale project for public exhibition at Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City – with their project SuralArk, an installation that is "part ship, part house."
The annual “Folly” program strives to give emerging architects and designers the opportunity to build public projects that explore the boundaries between architecture and sculpture. This year's proposal beat out 171 submissions from 17 countries; it was selected by a jury made up of Chris Doyle, Artist; John Hatfield, Socrates Sculpture Park; Enrique Norten, TEN Arquitectos; Lisa Switkin, James Corner Field Operations; and Ada Tolla, LOT-EK.
SuralArk will open on May 11th through August 3rd. Learn more about the project after the break.
From The Architectural League of New York. Conflating the form of an overturned ship and a typical suburban house, SuralArk will provide shelter for respite and contemplation for thousands of park visitors this spring and summer. The large-scale installation - part ship, part house - will span more than 50 feet with an elevation of 16 feet. Representative of the increasingly blurred lines between city, suburban environments, and rural living, Austin+Mergold’s SuralArk will be covered by a patchwork of vinyl siding – a typical material often used on nearby Queens residences. At Socrates, SuralArk will be light permeable and emit a warm glow as the sun bleeds through its surface. The upturned ark echoes the park’s past while considering the future, as a possible escape from rising tides that submerged the park in October 2012 during Super Storm Sandy.
