Project Description
Working with a prefabricated rental structure to house the inaugural New York presence of the Frieze Art Fair forced SO – IL to be inventive with a limited vocabulary. Randall’s Island, situated in between Manhattan, Bronx and Queens is one of the few pieces of open land in New York City large enough to accommodate the 225,000 sf, 1500 foot long structure.
Pie-shaped tent section wedges are inserted between six tent sections to relax and open up the standardized system, and offer amenities at each section as a moment of recess. The wedges bend the otherwise straight tent into a meandering, supple, shape. The winding form animates it on the unusual waterfront site, as well as establishes the temporary structure as an icon along the water.
The wedges divide the relentless length of the fair, with more than 350 galleries, into manageable sections. Rather than exposing the end gable section at each end of the tent, we extended the tent roof fabric in stripes, dissolving the tent into the ground. The playful entrances introduce visitors to the experience within.