CODA, Party Wall (Installation View), via MoMA PS1
The Young Architects Program, presented jointly by MoMA and MoMA PS1, challenges young professionals and recent graduates alike in its annual competition to design an installation for MoMA PS1’s courtyard. Each year, the winning design is fabricated and opened to the public during the summer months. The jury takes environmental sustainability heavily into account when choosing the design, which is an especially relevant criterion considering that EXPO 1, the ecology and politics-focused three-venue event, is currently on view at PS1. This year’s winning entry, Party Wall by the Ithaca-based firm CODA, features a semi-permeable skin made from skateboard manufacturing by-products mounted upon a frame of steel beams.
CODA, Party Wall Rendering, via MoMA PS1
Party Wall was designed and executed by CODA, the firm headed by Irish-born, 39 year-old Caroline O’Donnell. O’Donnell is an alumnus of Princeton’s Graduate School of Architecture and is currently an assistant professor at Cornell University. Materials for the wall were also largely sourced from Ithaca-based establishments.
CODA, Party Wall Skin Detail (Installation View), via MoMA PS1
The material for the skin of the wall was sourced from the waste of Ithaca-based longboard manufacturer Comet Skateboards. The wooden ply left over after the longboard shape had been cut out served as the material from which modular units were layered in an alternating pattern, creating a membrane that modulates light and shade. The reclaimed waste from the manufacture of over 3,000 skateboards was assembled into 150 panels and later transported to the site where each panel was mounted onto the structure’s steel frame.
CODA, Party Wall Skin and Frame (Installation View), via MoMA PS1
The frame itself, which is also made of leftover material, is anchored down by three large water weights, each weighing several tons. In addition to providing structural stability, these large balloons of water supply a gravity-fed network of cooling systems, including nozzles that spray a fine mist over visitors and a pump that sprays a stream of water over one of the four wading pools housed underneath the wall.
CODA, Party Wall at Eye-Level (Installation View), via MoMA PS1
Party Wall also features cleverly integrated benches that are stored in the wall when they are not in use, thereby becoming part of the skin. These benches are made from whole pieces of wood that were printed with skateboard graphics, but later considered defective by the manufacturer. The pieces were fitted with steel legs and magnets, turning them into benches that mount onto the steel frame at the base of the structure, reducing clutter and becoming part of the whole. Visitors are free to move these benches as they please, taking ownership of the installation in the process.
CODA, Party Wall Water Weight (Installation View), via MoMA PS1
Party Wall is open to the public during museum hours in addition to serving as a venue for the annual summer concert series, Heat Up, which hosts an event at PS1 every Saturday. The pavilion will remain open until August 31st.
—A. Cosio
CODA [Website]
MoMA PS1 “Party Wall” [Exhibition Site]
