Folly 2016 winners Hou de Sousa to build pavilion of “Sticks” for education studio

Hou de Sousa are surely getting their name out in winning open design competitions as of late. Following last month's win in the Dupont Underground's Re-ball! Design Competition in Washington D.C., Josh de Sousa and Nancy Hou are also the winners of the Folly 2016 Competition.

Co-organized by the Architectural League of New York and the Socrates Sculpture Park, the yearly competition calls for early-career architects and designers to propose their own contemporary interpretations of the architectural folly — with this year's competition particularly focusing on creating a functional structure to enhance the Park's public programs. The winning design would then be temporarily installed as an outdoor pavilion at the Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City in Queens, NY.

After reviewing submissions from around the world, the five-member jury selected Hou de Sousa's proposal, simply titled “Sticks”. This year's esteemed jury included: Jarrod Beck (artist and 2012 Emerging Artist Fellow); Stella Betts (LEVENBETTS); Lauren Crahan (Freecell Architecture); Giuseppe Lignano (LOT-EK); and John Hatfield (Executive Director of Socrates Sculpture Park).

Keep reading for more about the winning design.

Follies typically show off extravagant designs, but Hou de Sousa's winning design “Sticks” looks like a pared down pavilion of neatly arranged shelves. The interconnected slabs of lumber are built as a structural grid that create a structural frame, which will be used for community and educational use, as well as for providing art and material storage and display space. Hou de Sousa also used on-site scrap materials, which will be incorporated into the gridded walls and roof.

Adding to the pavilion's function-first agenda, “Sticks” will serve as a gathering hub for the Socrates Sculpture Park’s Education Studio, which hosts more than 10,000 students every year.

From May to June, Hou de Sousa will construct the installation in public, so passers-by are welcome to watch the building process unfold. “Sticks” is scheduled to officially open on July 9.

Also be on the lookout for more insight into the construction process from the Architectural League.

All images courtesy of the Architectural League of New York.

You can check out previous Folly winners and notable mentions in the links right below.