As part of the annual Times Square Valentine Heart Design contest, the Brooklyn-based, Venezuelan-born firm Stereotank just came out as the winner with their entry: "HEARTBEAT," will be located at Father Duffy Square, between 46th and 47th Streets. This is in partnership with The Architectural League of New York. Support provided by Arup.
"HEARTBEAT is a heart-beating urban drum. This engagement sculpture consists of a massive heart glowing to the rhythm of a strong, deep and low frequency heartbeat sound which changes its rate as visitors approach, move around and engage with it by playing various percussion instruments and joining the base rhythm of the heartbeat. The audience is invited to come together and creatively play, listen, dance and feel the vibrations of the heart while enjoying the warm pulsating light. In the emblematic, active, flickering atmosphere of Times Square, HeartBeat orchestrates multiple rhythms into a unique urban concert." Says Stereotank.
“Heartbeat is equipped with various percussion instruments. Each drum has unique sounds and resonant characteristics. Membranes of different sizes and materials such as synthetic snare skin, synthetic snare skin with coil, animal hide, and hard plastic are used to create a variety of drum timbres.”
Previous winners of the Times Square Valentine Heart Design include: Young Projects (2014); Situ Studio (2013); BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) (2012); Freecell (2011); Moorhead & Moorhead (2010); and Gage / Clemenceau Architects (2009).
