Eva Jensen to design "dancing disc" 2017 Folly Function installation at Socrates Sculpture Park

New York-based Eva Jensen Design + Laufs Engineering Design's “Circle Shade - 2πR4” was announced today as the winning proposal for this year's Folly Function installation at Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City. Organized by the Socrates Sculpture Park and the Architectural League of New York, the design/build competition calls for early-career architects and designers to propose contemporary interpretations of the architectural folly, which must also fulfill a specific function. This year's challenge asked entrants to design four portable and deployable canopy structures for flexible use throughout the Park.

In response, the Eva Jensen team used the circle to form their design. Circle Shade - 2πR4 is a portable shading structure that can be used for the Park's various summer events. Its circular canopy connects to the aluminum support poles with custom designed, adjustable structural 3D-printed joint nodes, which are engineered as two rigid connections. Each circular canopy is tilted and the structures can rotate to different positions. The cylindrical drum counter-weights can also be used as step-stools, display surfaces, or additional seating.

Read on for more.

“A light and minimal tripod anchored to weighty feet lifts a circle shade radiating Socrates Sculpture Park’s character and energy of wheel,” Eva Jensen describes in a statement. “As a constellation in the landscape, a playful composition of dynamic structures emerges. It alludes to delightful dancing discs, spinning shadows and captures cloud follies connecting ground with sky.”

Circle Shade will make its official debut during the Socrates Sculpture Park's summer solstice celebration on June 21.

This year's jury included Tatiana Bilbao (Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO), Eric Bunge (nARCHITECTS), Mary Miss (Artist, City as Living Laboratory), Craig Schwitter (BuroHappold Engineering), Hayes Slade (Slade Architecture), and John Hatfield (Executive Director of Socrates Sculpture Park).

Check out previous winning Folly installations in the links below.