Take a moment in “Flatiron Reflection”​, now on display in NYC's Flatiron District for the holidays​

If you find yourself walking through New York City's Flatiron District anytime soon, take a moment to stop by “Flatiron Reflection”. Designed by Future Expansion Architects, the playful mirrored installation was the winner of the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership and Van Alen Institute's fourth annual Flatiron Public Plaza Holiday Design Competition. The installation will serve as a centerpiece for the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership's holiday festivities throughout the season. Previous winning installations include LOT's “Flatiron Sky-Line” and SOFTlab's kaleidoscopic “Nova”.

Officially unveiled last week, Flatiron Reflection is currently on display on the North Flatiron Public Plaza at Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and 23rd Street. 

Designed to be experienced up-close and from a distance, Flatiron Reflection's mirrored surface and soft folds create a play of light, reflection, and shadow amid its bustling city environment.

Inside, the installation is a bundle of reflective tubes that create a fragmented column at the scale of the public plaza, and its fluted perimeter has niches that visitors can occupy. Its conical interior “cuts out the visual noise of the city to isolate the image of the Flatiron Building and its neighbors on the skyline”. A panoramic space in the center opens out to the plaza like a stage.

Future Expansion principals Deirdre and Nicholas McDermott say the installation is designed for three scales of experience: “the deeply creased exterior makes spaces for individuals; the interior room offers an intimate panorama for small groups; and the north-facing wedge presents a platform toward the plaza.”

Flatiron Reflection will be on display until January 1.