acconci studio 2012 design miami/ designer of the year

‘klein-bottle playground’ by studio acconci presented at design miami/ 2012image © designboom

each year design miami/ selects a ‘designer of the year’ which grants the winner a commission to create a large-scale work on the occasion of the event. this year acconci studio was selected, proposing ‘klein-bottle playground’ – originally developed for a touring exhibition of experimental recreational furniture for refugee children. the structure looks at the mobius strip, where there is no clear interior or exterior space, just one continuous surface that turns and twists, surfaces flowing into one other. acconci studio has taken the mathematical construct, in which a series of tubes extend out from and back into a central sphere, such that children can climb in and out of it, over and around. a model of the playspace was presented within the buena vista building in the ‘here/there, now/later’ exhibition within the miami design district during design miami/, with realization of the project set for 2014 – offering the first public area in the neighbourhood dedicated to children.

climbing structureimage © designboom

winding elementsimage © designboom

image © designboom

vito acconci discusses the ideas behind his architectural formsvideo © designboom

designboom had the opportunity to attend the ‘design pioneer talk’ where vito acconci spoke about his diverse projects and architectural theory.

‘lately I think, what has been obsessing me, is that, I wonder if architecture still needs surfaces… can we try to find some kind of (structure) equivalent to pixels, to particles. it’s the idea of what some of us at the studio are calling ‘can we make thick air’ so that instead of building something in the middle of air,can we pull these, like tightening of flies, or whatever they are, and turn them into something…’ – vito acconci

vito acconci of acconci studioportrait © designboom

model of ‘klein-bottle playground’ by acconci studioimage courtesy of acconci studio