inside view of ‘the ribbons’ by ICRAVE image © celine willard

in celebration of new york city’s recently passed marriage equality act, 24 same-sex couples have wed in two pop-up chapels created by new york architects Z-A studio and ICRAVE. hosted in central park on july 30, 2011 – the first saturday since the legalization – the temporary structures were the winning entries of a design competition sponsored by architizer and the knot. the brief called for non-denominational chapels that could be installed in less than 2 hours with a maximum footprint of 2.4m x 2.4m

ICRAVE + Z A studio: pop up chapel front view image © celine willard

‘the ribbon’ by manhattan-based design practice ICRAVE consists of hundreds of rainbow streamers hanging from a porous armature. creating a translucent and colourful cloud over the ‘alter’, the couples will be able to tie the ribbons in a knot during the ceremony and take with them after the celebration.

ICRAVE + Z A studio: pop up chapel ‘kiss’ by Z-A studio image © melissa murphy

influenced by the spiralling structure of a DNA strand, Z-A design (guy zucker) has created ‘kiss’ out of stacked honeycomb cardboard. the recycled materials make up two separate components that could not stand without the other.

ICRAVE + Z A studio: pop up chapel front view image © celine willard

ICRAVE + Z A studio: pop up chapel image © celine willard

ICRAVE + Z A studio: pop up chapel image © melissa murphy

ICRAVE + Z A studio: pop up chapel elevation, sketched detail, and plan of ‘the ribbons’

ICRAVE + Z A studio: pop up chapel renderings of ‘the kiss’