Snarkitecture’s Drift Pavilion (2012) at Design/Miami

Every year, Design Miami, the edgy design fair that takes place the week of Art Basel Miami Beach, commissions a hot young architectural firm to put together a reinterpretation of the classic fair tent. With his NY-based firm, Snarkitecture, Arsham is creating Design Miami's pavilion this year. Called "Drift," it looks like a collection of vertical inflated vinyl tubes bound together, that are floating away at one corner. The fair - as always - will be in the parking lot of the Miami Beach Convention Center, right outside the Art Basel mothership.

Drift Pavilion by Snarkitecture. Image courtesy of Design Miami.

Visitors to Design Miami/ 2012 will be welcomed by Drift, a floating environment comprised of massive inflatable tubes, resembling a topographical landscape in suspension: an ascending mountain above and an excavated cavern below.

An entrance pavilion for Design Miami/ 2012, Drift creates an unexpected moment within the context of the familiar white vinyl tent, reformulating the material to create a floating environment. Inflated tubes are bundled together to create a topographical landscape in suspension: an ascending mountain above and an excavated cavern below. These long cylinders are arranged vertically to infill the area of the entrance courtyard, and then lifted to create areas of circulation and rest for the visitors entering and exiting the structure.

Filtered light passes between the tubes of the inverted landscape creating a space both interactive and contemplative. Apertures in the canopy above frame views of the Miami sky and allow natural light and fresh air into the interior. The lightness of the floating tubes underscores the mass of the enormous installation, visible from a distance of several blocks. Drift identifies the entrance courtyard as a site of activity and design. The rising landscape becomes a beacon for visitors approaching Design Miami/ while the excavated cavern presents a moment of exploration before entering the fair.

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Project. Drift Pavilion by Snarkitecture. Image courtesy of Design Miami.

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Alex Mustonen and Daniel Arsham SNARKITECTURE

Snarkitecture (New York 2008) is a collaborative and experimental practice operating in territories between art and architecture. The name is drawn from Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of The Snark, a poem describing an “impossible voyage of an improbable crew to find an inconceivable creature.” Snarkitecture investigates the unknown within architecture – the indefinable moments created by manipulating and reinterpreting existing materials, structures and programs to spectacular effect.

Exploring the boundaries of disciplines, the studio designs permanent, architectural scale projects and functional objects with new and imaginative purposes. Snarkitecture’s approach focuses on the viewer’s experience and memory, creating moments of wonder and interaction that allow people to engage directly with their surrounding environment. By transforming the familiar into the extraordinary, Snarkitecture makes architecture perform the unexpected.

Best known for their playful approach to material and the reinterpretation of everyday objects and environments—from the raw, yet refined interiors of various Kith and COS stores to immersive installations at Salone del Mobile, the New Museum, Design Miami, and more—the studio’s tenth anniversary represents an opportune time to explore past work in a brand new format.

Snarkitecture was established by Alex Mustonen and Daniel Arsham and is represented by Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin.