CLB Architects designed FILTER, a monumental ephemeral work in the busy heart of the iconic Times Square. It is a pavilion created for the Design Pavilion and NYCxDesign Festival 2022 in New York.

The idea behind this project was to establish a space that would be able to provide a certain tranquillity inside this iconic place, the essence of which is characterised by its accelerated flow and constant movement. Through its form, the architects seem to transport us to a pavilion with a church-like aura.
CLB Architects' intervention provides a new reading of public space. It is a personal subjective investigation and its relationship with the natural world.

The concept is based on an origami figure, a sheet of paper that folds and manages to stand on its own, it is self-sufficient.

Its structure, on the plane of reality, is made up of hot-rolled access plates that form an ellipsoidal volume. The steel has a weathered texture that imitates the feeling found in the Rocky Mountains and recycled wood is used with a certain burnt texture. Its diameter is 7.32 metres and it is a total of 6 metres high.

Inside is a central tree that will later be donated to the New York non-profit organisation The Battery Conservancy. The pavilion is intended to be moved to Wyoming to be installed as a public sculpture at the EMIT headquarters.

FILTER by CLB Architects. Photograph by Andres Orozco
 

Description of project by CLB Architects

Created for Design Pavilion and the NYCxDesign Festival, FILTER carves out space for quiet recentering within the frenetic energy of Times Square. Designed as both a monumental object and an ephemeral experience, the pavilion establishes a new node in the heart of New York City’s urban fabric – reorienting that experience toward the natural, rather than the man-made. Evoking the rugged Wyoming landscape from which it originates, FILTER draws the visitor into an engagement of its flowing folds of weathered steel and timber. At the pavilion’s center, a lone tree embodies the ecological cycles and serves as a counterpoint to the Manhattan’s urbanity.

Designed by CLB Architects, the pavilion’s chapel-like design facilitates a new understanding of place, providing each occupant the chance to explore their own relationship with the natural world. The structure’s concept began as a simple diagram – a folded sheet of paper, carefully sliced, and able to stand on its own. Eric Logan, Partner at CLB, translated this exercise into full-scale existence through a design composed of a series of standard-sized, half-inch hot-rolled steel plates, or “chaps,” arranged to form a 24-foot diameter, 20-foot-tall ellipsoid.

FILTER, located between West 46th and 47th Streets at Times Square, appears to be a foreign object. Fluid shards of naturally-weathered steel invite close inspection, and a gentle ramp leads around the perimeter, offering views of the space held within. The noise, bustling crowds, and glaring lights of the city are filtered out, and the newly-centered visitor is left in solitude, inhabiting the urban “pause.” As Logan explains, the structure presents “an offering, it [FILTER] changes the environment and creates its own.” A bench of reclaimed fir offcuts is folded into the interior, encircling a live, 20-foot-tall tree. The tree’s dense canopy only partially obscures the sky beyond, inviting occupants to look upward and lose themselves in contemplation.

Each element of the structure was designed with attention to its sustainability, portability, and longevity, beyond the duration of the NYCxDesign installation. EMIT, based in Sheridan, Wyoming, is responsible for the steel prefabrication and is the exhibit patron. The steel was weathered to develop a protective rust patina evocative of the Rocky Mountain West. The lightly-charred and textured timber elements were crafted from salvaged Glulam beams by Spearhead, sustainable wood technologists based in British Columbia. These systematized and structurally self-supporting components were first sent to Greeley, Colorado for test assembly, and then disassembled and shipped to New York City to be erected by New York-based contractors Dowbuilt. Utah-based Helius oversaw lighting design, incorporating fixtures by B-K Lighting and coordinating with New York-based contractors Apollo Electric. An organic Exclamation Plane tree, donated by Raemelton Farm in Adamstown, Maryland, completes the design.

Following the closure of the NYCxDesign festival, the tree will be donated to the New York City non-profit The Battery Conservancy, and the pavilion will be carefully disassembled and transported back to Wyoming to continue its life as a public sculpture at EMIT’s headquarters and enjoyed for generations to come. When it completes its cycle and reaches its final resting point in Sheridan, FILTER’s patina will reflect the accumulations of both dry western air and East Coast salinity. Forging connections across geography and intimately centered on occupant experience, FILTER makes a place of its own.

Free and open to the public, FILTER will be open daily, May 7-15, 2022, from 11:00am - 9:00pm.

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Structural Engineer.- KL&A, Inc.
Lighting Designer.- HELIUS.
Light Fixture Provider.- B-K Lighting.
Lighting Contractor.- Apollo Electric.
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Dowbuilt.
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07.05>15.05.22.
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Steel Supplier and Fabricator.- EMIT. Wood Supplier and Wood Fabricator.- Spearhead. Tree Provider.- Raemelton Farm.
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Times Square, New York, USA. M-S. 11:00am-9:00pm..
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CLB Architects, more than two decades since our founding in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, we have evolved but our essentials remain unchanged. The projects are recognizable: thoughtful, innovative, and refined in their details. A collaborative process enables us to engage clients and therefore our portfolio is loaded with a diverse set of designs each responsive to a particular set of conditions. The power of landscape, the quality of light and the simple honesty of vernacular architecture influence the work. Each endeavor is guided with the firm’s philosophy in mind – inspired by place.

Since our inception in 1992, the Jackson studio has grown to accommodate a staff of more than 40 led by principals Eric Logan, Kevin Burke and Andy Ankeny. We maintain an informal and collegial atmosphere that encourages individual creativity and teamwork in an open, collaborative environment. In 2017 we opened a full-service design studio in Bozeman. Our design approach integrates well with the landscape and cultural context of southwestern Montana. We are thrilled to be contributing to the collection of legacy buildings in this new, but familiar environment.

The work of the office spans a wide variety of project types with a strong emphasis on custom residential architecture. Community facilities, resorts, and mixed-use buildings make up the public side of the practice. In all of our work we focus on process, collaboration and integration of craft, material and constructability. This approach has resulted in numerous awards and publications and has raised public awareness of the benefits of good design.

We create interior environments that are a natural extension of the architecture, with the belief that there should be no line where architecture ends and interiors begin. The practice seamlessly integrates a project’s architectural forms and materials with the interior furnishings, lighting and artwork. Our foray into Public Art began with members of the firm serving on boards for several art-based organizations. This community involvement led to CLB participating in local public art events and competitions.

Our firm’s commitment to producing well-considered design extends to the objects that inhabit the spaces we create. The process of making things, whether a building or a door grip, reflects a deep-rooted understanding of the importance of personal interaction with design. As a team of accomplished architects and designers, we work diligently with craftspeople, and our clients, to realize original pieces that enrich the human experience.
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Published on: May 11, 2022
Cite: "FILTER a NYCxDESIGN pavilion in the heart of Times Square by CLB Architects" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/filter-a-nycxdesign-pavilion-heart-times-square-clb-architects> ISSN 1139-6415
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