New York-based Jenny Sabin Studio has conceived Lumen, an immersive, interactive installation made of robotically knitted textile on view in MoMA PS1’s courtyard through 4 September. Winner of The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1’s annual Young Architects Program, this year’s structure evolves over the course of t he day, with responsive textiles that display subtle color in sunlight and emit glowing light after sundown. Lumen serves as the setting for the 20th season of “Warm Up”, MoMA PS1’s pioneering outdoor music series, incorporating a custom lighting program to complement these vibrant, popular events.
Made of over 1,000,000 yards of digitally knitted and robotically woven fiber, Lumen features two large-scale canopies with 1,500 cellular components and 250 hanging tubular structures that create opportunities for visitors to interact with the work. The design incorporates 100 robotically woven recycled spool stools and a misting system that responds to visitors’ proximity to produce a refreshing micro-climate.
Socially and environmentally responsive, Lumen’s adaptive architecture is inspired by collective levity, play, and interaction as the structure transforms throughout the day and night, responding to the density of bodies, heat, and sunlight. The result of collaboration across disciplines, Lumen applies insights and theories from biology, materials science, mathematics, and engineering – integrating high-performing, formfitting and adaptive materials into a structure where code, pattern, human interaction, environment, geometry, and matter operate together.
Jenny Sabin Studio is based in Ithaca, New York, and works on projects across a range of disciplines, including architecture, biology and mathematics. It was selected as this year’s YAP winner ahead of Los Angeles-based Bureau Spectacular; Chicago-baseed Ania Jaworska, Office of III, which has studios in New York and San Francisco; and SCHAUM/SHIEH from Houston.
all images by Pablo Enriquez | courtesy of MoMA PS1