The winning entry to the City of Dreams Pavilion Competition, a design competition that promotes sustainability-oriented architecture, was created by Cornell University faculty, including assistant professor of architecture Aleksandr Mergold, associate professor of art Maria Park, professor of civil and environmental engineering Chris Earls, and visiting critic of architecture Scott Hughes.
The field of elevated oculi, made from 40-year-old metal grain bins procured from a farm in Delphos, Ohio, frames unobstructed view of the sky while tracking the path of the sun with a range of shadow patterns. The interior walls are painted with colors of the daytime sky, inviting viewers to wander below the structure to find a moment when the color of the paint and of the sky become one.
Artifacts of the American agroindustrial age, these bins have been repurposed in ways not unlike how medieval inhabitants of Rome reoccupied the remains of the Ancient Empire. The grain bin is our contemporary spolia — at once a resource for the future, a contemplation on the past, and a connection between urban and rural life.
Following the installation, the bins will be reconstructed as an experimental housing cluster in Central New York. There, an interior view into the bin will occasionally reveal a color of a New York City summer sky.
Named for the shape of the dominant material, “Oculi” is constructed from several circular metal grain bins that were procured from the Midwest. Brought to the city and installed over a week in late May, the bins establish a visual connection between urban and rural modes of living. A field of elevated "oculi" frame unobstructed views of the sky and track the path of the sun.
The annual City of Dreams competition is hosted by FIGMENT, the Emerging New York Architects Committee (ENYA) of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter (AIANY), and the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY). “Oculi”'s opening is part of weekend-long, participatory arts event FIGMENT hosts on the island each year.
The “Oculi” project was the ideal fit for Austin+Mergold, a landscape and design practice that Mergold operates with Jason Austin, a Cornell alumnus.
"We had been thinking about metal grain bins for some time now, this 100-year old system," said Mergold. "A few years ago, we designed a low-cost housing unit that would use a metal grain bin, and we saw the opportunity in the City of Dreams competition to use the bins, connect upstate and downstate, and eventually continue the investigation on the housing unit again."
Mergold also sought out Earls in Cornell’s College of Engineering, recognizing that “Oculi” would be highly experimental from a structural standpoint as well. According to Earls, his work will "explore the space of engineering solutions and help conduct material and structural experimentation so as to uncover suitable forms that at once respect the architectural intent and function favorably at the site of installation on Governors Island."
The project was also an ideal fit for Park, whose work ranges from serially based paintings to sitespecific installations. At Park's suggestion, the inside of the silos are painted with subtle variations of the daytime sky color so that viewers might move from one to the next in anticipation of finding themselves under one that matched the color of a particular day or time.
"As the de/reconstructed grain bins mark awareness of a different time and place, the viewer's involvement with [the bins] also indicate a different kind of purpose or sense in movement," she said.
City of Dreams aims to promote sustainability-minded thinking in architecture and design and requires contestants to consider the environmental impact of their design from construction to demolition. Following the deinstallation of “Oculi” in late 2018, Austin+Mergold is looking for an environmentally responsible housing organization to partner with in reconstructing the bins as an experimental housing cluster in central New York.
The field of elevated oculi, made from 40-year-old metal grain bins procured from a farm in Delphos, Ohio, frames unobstructed view of the sky while tracking the path of the sun with a range of shadow patterns. The interior walls are painted with colors of the daytime sky, inviting viewers to wander below the structure to find a moment when the color of the paint and of the sky become one.
Artifacts of the American agroindustrial age, these bins have been repurposed in ways not unlike how medieval inhabitants of Rome reoccupied the remains of the Ancient Empire. The grain bin is our contemporary spolia — at once a resource for the future, a contemplation on the past, and a connection between urban and rural life.
Following the installation, the bins will be reconstructed as an experimental housing cluster in Central New York. There, an interior view into the bin will occasionally reveal a color of a New York City summer sky.
Named for the shape of the dominant material, “Oculi” is constructed from several circular metal grain bins that were procured from the Midwest. Brought to the city and installed over a week in late May, the bins establish a visual connection between urban and rural modes of living. A field of elevated "oculi" frame unobstructed views of the sky and track the path of the sun.
The annual City of Dreams competition is hosted by FIGMENT, the Emerging New York Architects Committee (ENYA) of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter (AIANY), and the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY). “Oculi”'s opening is part of weekend-long, participatory arts event FIGMENT hosts on the island each year.
The “Oculi” project was the ideal fit for Austin+Mergold, a landscape and design practice that Mergold operates with Jason Austin, a Cornell alumnus.
"We had been thinking about metal grain bins for some time now, this 100-year old system," said Mergold. "A few years ago, we designed a low-cost housing unit that would use a metal grain bin, and we saw the opportunity in the City of Dreams competition to use the bins, connect upstate and downstate, and eventually continue the investigation on the housing unit again."
Mergold also sought out Earls in Cornell’s College of Engineering, recognizing that “Oculi” would be highly experimental from a structural standpoint as well. According to Earls, his work will "explore the space of engineering solutions and help conduct material and structural experimentation so as to uncover suitable forms that at once respect the architectural intent and function favorably at the site of installation on Governors Island."
The project was also an ideal fit for Park, whose work ranges from serially based paintings to sitespecific installations. At Park's suggestion, the inside of the silos are painted with subtle variations of the daytime sky color so that viewers might move from one to the next in anticipation of finding themselves under one that matched the color of a particular day or time.
"As the de/reconstructed grain bins mark awareness of a different time and place, the viewer's involvement with [the bins] also indicate a different kind of purpose or sense in movement," she said.
City of Dreams aims to promote sustainability-minded thinking in architecture and design and requires contestants to consider the environmental impact of their design from construction to demolition. Following the deinstallation of “Oculi” in late 2018, Austin+Mergold is looking for an environmentally responsible housing organization to partner with in reconstructing the bins as an experimental housing cluster in central New York.
