Exhale Pavilion at Art Basel Miami Beach

We just received stunning photographs of the "Exhale Pavilion" (previously on Bustler), winner of the prestigious Art Basel Miami Beach/Creative Time 'Oceanfront' competition. This temporary outdoor public art pavilion during the contemporary art fair was a joint design effort of Phu Hoang Office (New York) and Rachely Rotem Studio (New York/Tel Aviv) — now re-established as MODU.

Project Description:

Wind is inherently without form. The Exhale pavilion harnesses this essential formlessness to create a dynamic interactive environment for public art. The winning competition entry for the Art Basel Miami Beach and Creative Time Oceanfront project by Phu Hoang Office and Rachely Rotem Studio will create a public art venue for the annual Art Basel Miami Beach contemporary art fair. The evening programs will include video and performance artists as well as D.J. dance programs. The twenty-five thousand square foot beach site in Miami Beach will be temporarily transformed by seven miles of hanging ropes swaying in the wind. The form of the pavilion literally shifts with the weather, producing an open, flexible and dynamic environment. The Exhale pavilion eschews static divisions of space, instead promoting constant activity in informal public spaces that change their use and interactivity as the evening winds change.

The Exhale pavilion uses two types of rope to create diverse interactive environments. Some ropes are reflective while others are phosphorescent; together they produce a canopy that shimmers and glows in the night. An interactive installation of “floating ropes” is activated by a wind-speed sensor. When the wind reaches a particular speed, it will momentarily activate all of the adjacent ultraviolet lights, “charging” a field of glowing phosphorescent rope. Other, smaller wind speed sensors mounted at human height respond directly to users’ behavior. When someone blows on a sensor, it momentarily “charges” the nearby glowing ropes. Additionally, a hammock clearing provides a space for the public to lounge and swing beneath the swaying rope canopy. Both the floating ropes installation and hammock give form to the site’s wind effects while creating new forms of public interaction with the environment.

See more photos of the pavilion and the architects in the image gallery below: