A garden in the grid

WORK Architecture Company’s ‘Public Farm’ wins MoMA PS1 competition

One of the rites of passage for emerging architects is winning MoMA PS1’s Young Architects competition. Now in its eighth year, the annual competition invites architects to propose a temporary structure for the Museum’s courtyard to serve as host for its popular summer music program, Warm-Up. This year’s winner, Public Farm 1, is a departure from the urban beach schemes of previous years. Architects Dan Wood and Amale Andraos, the husband and wife team that head the New York-based WORK ac, took a gutsy chance by proposing an off-beat, off-theme scheme of a farmer’s market. Constructed of cardboard tubes, its top surface will be a working farm featuring a variety of vegetables and plants. The structure will create a textured colorful and constantly changing surface in contrast with P.S. 1’s angular concrete and gravel courtyard. Public Farm 1 will act as an interactive bridge between outside and inside, creating multiple zones of activity including swings, fans, sound effects, innovative seating areas and a pool at its center. The project, to cost US$70,000, is to be built this summer.