2012 MoMA PS1 YAP Runner-Up: The Mechanical Garden / Ibañez Kim Studio

ArchDaily announced the winning proposal for the 2012 MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program (YAP) earlier this month. In order to bring you full coverage of the annual competition, we are featuring the other four creative designs that competed against HWKN’s Wendy. Ibañez Kim Studio (Mariana Ibañez and Simon Kim) proposed a Mechanical Garden that enjoyed a unique partnership with artists and engineers in Philadelphia.

Colonnade - Courtesy of Ibañez Kim Studio

The Mechanical Garden is a social stage for PS1 activities as well as for architecture-as-characters. A strong figural demarcation assembles a series of Characters into generously shaded arcades and walkways. This peripheral organization reinforces the existing geometries of the courtyard walls, but thickens them with canopy and programme – to allow for indeterminacy and found situations.

Pools - Courtesy of Ibañez Kim Studio

Each Character is constructed from similar elements in fixed modules, but have differentiation in traits and features. They vary in orientation, internal spaces and function. From the entrance to the courtyard, visitors can choose from a forking path and find their moments of refreshment, play, and pause.

Program Diagram - Courtesy of Ibañez Kim Studio

For this courtyard, in these prevailing conditions, we welcome new narrative, social engagement, and active environments.

Party - Courtesy of Ibañez Kim Studio

We present The Mechanical Garden as developed with the artists Steven and Billy Dufala, roboticist Mark Yim, and Adams Kara Taylor.

Structural Team: Hanif Kara, Director, Daniel Bosia, Mei Chan
Project Team: Ben Brady, Jeremy Jih, Jordan MacTavish, Manuel Diaz, Ben Ruswick, Chen Lu, Michael Wetmore, Kordae Henry, Kate Rufe, Sarah Wolf, Ying Xu, Shulei Weng

Text provided by Ibañez Kim Studio.