An architectural installation meant to clean the air to a degree equivalent to removing 260 cars from the road has been selected as the winning design in a competition to transform the courtyard of MoMA PS1 in Long Island City, Queens, this summer.
The New York-based architecture and design firm behind the proposal, HWKN, won the 13th Young Architects Program, which is run jointly by MoMA PS 1 and its parent institution, the Museum of Modern Art.
The project, called Wendy, features a scaffolding apparatus that resembles a three-dimensional, multipronged star enclosing nylon fabric treated with a chemical spray that neutralizes airborne pollutants. “It’s a really fun thing but it’s actually playing with brand new materials and technologies that are going to have more and more practical applications,” said Barry Bergdoll, the chief curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art.
Mr. Bergdoll said it would also be great to look at. “It’s aesthetically unforgettable because it pops out of the courtyard and looks like this huge ornament,” he said. “It’s going to be amazing from the No. 7 train.”
