Client: Design Pavilion

Overview

An oasis at NYC’s premier public design exhibition, FILTER was designed specifically for Design Pavilion in Times Square by Wyoming and Montana based multidisciplinary design studio CLB Architects, as an ephemeral offering, changing the environment by creating its own.

The centerpiece of Design Pavilion 2022, FILTER’s 20-foot-tall by 34 foot diameter ellipsoidal structure served as a chapel-like monument to the natural environment in the urban landscape, inspiring gathering, interaction and a focus on sustainability. 

A ring of pre-fabricated naturally weathered cut steel plate columns with two wooden ramps leading up to openings in the enclosure, enveloped seating on a segmented bench crafted from wood offcuts.  Anchoring the interior of the pavilion is a lone 20-foot-tall Exclamation Plane tree, serving as a counterpoint to Manhattan’s urbanity.    

At the conclusion of the Design Pavilion event, the structure was shipped back to Wyoming where it will be enjoyed for generations to come.  Upon reaching its final home, FILTER’s patina will reflect the accumulations of both dry western air and East Coast salinity, forging connections across geography.

Goals

Designed as both a monumental object and an ephemeral experience, the FILTER pavilion established a new node in the heart of NYC’s urban fabric - reorienting that experience towards the natural, rather than the man-made. FILTER’s design facilitates a new understanding of place, providing each occupant the chance to explore their own relationship with the natural world.

The intent for FILTER is to create a sense of calm, a moment of discovery, encouraging visitors to enter a mental space of introspection.

FILTER is a tactile, sustainable, and renewable structure honoring rugged materiality. In addition to providing refuge for momentary meditation, CLB Architects successfully delivered a message about material conservation.

Process

Since 2016, realizing experiential installations of art, architecture and design, Design Pavilion reached out to CLB Architects for their original approach to materials and respect for landscape and environment, wondering how this sustainable, contemporary firm would approach the NYC terrain.

CLB was also excited to find out and presented their interpretation of Design Pavilion’s theme, Open To The Sky. Together with Design Pavilion’s guidance in NYC building safety codes and pedestrian behavior, FILTER was created.

CLB organized a production team, including Wyoming’s EMIT Technologies, as patron and leading the steel prefabrication; Brooklyn’s GC Dowbuilt for assembly; British Columbia’s Spearhead crafting the light-charred timber of salvaged glulam beams; Utah’s architectural lighting firm Helius; and Maryland’s Raemelton Farm’s tree donation.

With Times Square Alliance’s command of public plazas, and special attention from NYC Mayor’s Office, and Departments of Building, Transportation, and Parks, FILTER was placed at the center of Times Square.

Facing 2-1/2 years of pandemic setbacks, FILTER was a miraculous victory for this strong partnership across the country. The team watched daily via Webcam as 3 million visitors enjoyed FILTER!

Additional Information

About Design Pavilion. New York City’s premier public design exhibition, Design Pavilion, returned for its 5th edition in May 2022, after a 2-1/2 year pandemic shutdown. The internationally acclaimed 9-day event celebrates creativity and sustainability by offering inspiring interactive installations by leading architects and designers to millions of visitors in Times Square. Founded and produced by Ilene Shaw, Design Pavilion gives opportunity to progressive companies, forward-thinking designers, architects, artists and schools, to address the public directly with their design innovations and stories. It welcomes brilliant and courageous thinkers to share their explorations and solutions, and to reach beyond and open to the sky. About CLB Architects. Celebrating 30 years since their founding in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, CLB Architects has evolved yet their essentials remain unchanged. The projects are recognizable: thoughtful, innovative, and refined in their details. The power of landscape, the quality of light and the simple honesty of vernacular architecture influence their work. Each endeavor is guided with the firm’s philosophy in mind – inspired by place — and has resulted in projects across the United States. CLB Architects is led by partner Eric Logan.