Frieze Art Fair
For the inaugural Frieze Art Fair, SO – IL manipulated a prefabricated rental tent to meander along New York City's East River and break the relentless monotony typical of art fairs.
Working with a prefabricated rental structure forced us to be inventive with a limited vocabulary. Randall’s Island, situated in between Manhattan, Bronx and Queens is one of the few pieces of open land in New York City large enough to accommodate the 225,000 sf, 1500 ft long structure.
Pie-shaped tent section wedges are inserted between six tent sections to relax and open up the standardized system, and offer amenities at each section as a moment of recess. The wedges bend the otherwise straight tent into a meandering, supple, shape. The winding form animates it on the unusual waterfront site, as well as establishing the temporary structure as an icon along the water.
The wedges divide the relentless length of the fair into manageable sections. Rather than exposing the end gable section at each end of the tent, we extended the tent roof fabric in stripes, dissolving the tent into the ground. The playful entrances introduce visitors to the experience within.
