© Iwan Baan
A temporary installation by Diller Scofidio + Renfro marks the e…
This is the first year that the New York Fashion Week is being held at Lincoln Center instead of Bryant Park, so it’s only natural that the cultural institution’s architects of the moment should be involved. Diller Scofidio + Renfro, whose Lincoln Center work includes the recent redesign of Alice Tully Hall, the renovation and expansion of The Juilliard School, the Hypar Roof Lawn, and the Lincoln Restaurant (which opens later this month), have created an installation that serves as the entrance to Fashion Week’s tent-covered runways. The 50-foot-high volume—fabric wrapped about a structural support system—seems to hang in midair, touching the ground at a single, small point. What makes it striking, especially on first glance, is the print on the fabric, which mirrors the color and texture of Lincoln Center’s ubiquitous travertine cladding, giving the volume the illusion of solidity even as it floats a few feet off the ground. “We wanted to create an appropriate interface between the cultural campus and fashion, something that respected the design language of the buildings while giving fashion a public face,” said principal Elizabeth Diller in a press release. The installation will come down after Sept. 16.
