1. Areas of a Performance
density and light porosity densitydensity and light and porosity light porosity
The Audience
Stage Performers dark dark dark
program from Weaving Densities 2.performance Light light Effects
The Spotlight medium mediummedium
light light
light
performance light light program performance program
medium
rk
light
standard weave operation standard weave op standard weave operation
4. Standard Weaving Operation standard weave operation
Dark - Tight Weave
space and materiality space and materiality space and materiality
audience audience audience
Medium - Normal Weave
3. Ground Materials Responding to Activity
e
stage stage
Light - Loose Weave stage
stage
Salvaged and Stacked Tires
DG or Gravel for High Use Areas
highlight highlight
highlight
Existing Grass
highlight
axial weave pattern axial weave pattern
axial weave
axial weave pattern
5. Rescued Plastic Bags as a Jute Weave Mesh
density diagram
light conditions
dark medium light
program
tires: Tires forseating Seating
tires:forplanted Tires Planting
plastic Pipes bag canopy Reclaimed for support
metal poleBag structure Plastic Canopy
central performance area stage area planted tires seating/play area support structure
WE MADE THIS: a pavilion built from materials found in NYC by those who live in NYC Hope McManus and Shane Fagan
Our approach to this year’s City of Dreams Pavilion RFP has two main goals: 1. Create a project that emphasizes community engagement and participation through reuse. 2. Design a pavilion that encourages gathering and performance. Light and shadow work together to transform the landscape around us throughout the day. Similarly, in a theatre light and shadows are carefully engineered to add drama or emphasis to a performance. For our City of Dreams proposal, we hope to bring this theatrical shadowplay to Governor’s Island. We identified three main types of lighting for a performance 1. The darkness for the audience 2. Medium lighting for the main stage 3. The spotlight for the star performer To achieve these three types of lighting, we developed a weaving system using twine and plastic bags collected from the streets of New York City. The use of plastic bags was inspired by the story of two men who hunt for plastic bags that are trapped in New York trees, a rampant problem every winter. While we also hope to clean up litter, giving these bags a second use after they are thrown away is a main goal. Instead of the full life span, or cradle to cradle, we hope to use materials that have been discarded because their main use has expired. The materials will have a second life in our pavilion as sun cover, seating and supports. The canopy will feature these knotted plastic bags in a weave of varying densities to re-created lighting effects in a theatre setting. On the ground, salvaged tires are stacked, filled, planted and arranged to provide seating for performances and a fun play surface to run jump and tumble over. Each tire to bolted to the next tire to create a secure base tire filled with concrete to hold the recycled piping that supports the canopy weave. This design is simple, yet provides a shaded places to run over, jump off, sit on and talk to other New Yorkers. People can comment on the plastic bags if they recognize a take-away restaurants bag from their neighborhood or whether their son or daughter collected the most bags for their troop. A connection can be made to these things that are discarded so quickly. For engagement, we want to reach out to the local shops, communities and youth groups for help. Once tires are of no use to auto-repair shops, they are typically hauled away to landfills where they take up space and problematically trap methane gas. Over a period of 6-9 months, we will find discarded tires a local repair shops and store them until installation time. Afterwards, we will make sure they go to the proper recycling facilities to be reused in different ways. The plastic bags will be collected through the local New York communities. By working with boy and girl scout troops, we will scour the New York landscape for bags stuck in trees, blowing around streets and from local donation centers to give this trash a second life. Not only are the kids cleaning up their city, an important for of stewardship, they are collecting to contribute to the pavilion that thousands of people will see. The plantings will not be typical potted plants. Instead we find the trees, shrubs and grasses growing in the pavement cracks and abandoned lots across New York. These “City Natives” are usually seen as weeds, but are actually the local flora of North East urban environments. These plantings surround the base tires supporting the pipes for the canopy structure. People sitting for performances and playing in the pavilion will be able to see, touch and smell these plants in a new context and change their opinion of them as weeds. For construction and assembly, we will use the Governor’s Island Ferry to transport approximately 200 tires to the island along with soil, ready mix concrete, recycle pipes and the completed canopy. Simple hooks and screws connect the pipes to the canopy. After layout of the tires, they are bolted together and twelve are filled with ready mix concrete to support the pipes. The seating tires are filled with dirt and mulch and the planting tires filled with soil and found city natives.
Proposed budget: Item
Amount
Cost/per
Total
Plastic Bags
~5000
$0 (found)
$0
Reclaimed Tires
~200
$2 (EPA Recycling)
$400
Reclaimed Pipes
22
~$5
$110
Plantings
20
$0 (found)
$0
Top Soil
10 bags (.75cuft)
$3
$30
Quickcrete
10
$4
$40
Found Material Storage
9 months
$50
$450
Transport of Materials
Periodically
$300
$300
Misc (food for scouts etc) over 9 months
$300
$300
Final
~$1520