by Henry Melcher
To commemorate its 120th anniversary, the Van Alen Institute is opening a new street-level space inNew York City next Tuesday. The space, designed by Collective–LOK and located at 30 West 22nd Street, functions as a programming hub, event space, and gallery. Collective–LOK is a collaboration between Jon Lott (PARA-Project), William O’Brien Jr. (WOJR), and Michael Kubo (over,under). The team’s proposal, called “Screen Play,” won the Institute’s 2013 Ground/Work competition, which received over 120 design submissions.
“Titled Screen Play…is a highly flexible space utilizing a subtle interplay of surfaces and screens to allow for the diverse range of uses demanded by the activities of the Institute, from multimedia exhibitions and lectures to workshops and private meetings,” Van Alen said in a statement. “Each changing function of the bowtie-shaped floor plan will be partitioned by silver accordion walls and a series of four semi-transparent curtains that descend from discreet tracks embedded within the perforated metal mesh ceiling.”