Marks House

source: mlive

The winning design for the Flat Lot Competition — a contest created by a collaboration of arts and architecture organizations to put a temporary structure in a downtown parking lot — was announced Thursday, March 21.

It’s a design Shannon White, a local architect involved in the competition, said symbolizes “the disappearing housing stock in Flint but also the rebirth of the city.”

The design is called “Mark’s House,” and was designed by a three-person design team, Two Islands, based out of London and Madrid. The house looks like a Tudor-style home, made of mirrors, suspended in the air. It sits on a central pedestal, also made of mirrors, which due to some craft design and use of light is meant to disappear and give the “house” a floating effect.

Construction is expected to begin within six weeks, said Stephen Zacks, executive director of the Flint Public Arts Project, which along with the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, launched the contest last fall.

The structure is also designed to hold more than 1,500 gallons of water and “can be released as a cooling spray during hot summer days,” according to a statement from FPAP.

Flint Art Project

Shannon White announces the winner of the Flint Public Art Project is announced Thurs., March 21. The temporary structure will be placed in a parking lot in downtown Flint for the summer months.

It will take up eight parking spaces of the downtown “flat lot” and, functionally, is an elaborate pavilion. The idea of the contest was to build a structure that could be used for festivals and events as “a stage for events, a lounge, a play area, a sun shelter, and a dance floor,” Zacks said.
The contest drew more than 220 entries from more than 35 countries. Several of those, White said, did their research about Flint.

“They had done an enormous amount of research about the city of Flint, what’s happening here, what our challenges are here, what’s happening with our housing stock, why do we have a parking lot in the middle of our downtown — that you couldn’t delineate what was from Melbourne, Australia, what was from London, England, what was from Flint, Michigan. That was incredible,” said White, who runs her own architectural firm, Funchitecture, and is a representative of the Flint chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Those submitting entries were given three stipulations: that their design must have artistic merit and be aesthetically pleasing, that the team has the ability to build the structure with the awarded $25,000 budget, and how it would interest and engage the public.

White, who was on the jury who judged the competition, said the “poetic” and “symbolic” aspects of Mark’s House helped it stand apart from the rest.

Zacks said the name is Mark’s House because the structure “tells the story of an imagined Flint resident named Mark Hamilton whose family loses his home to foreclosure. The pavilion appears as a Tudor-style house that appears suspended in mid-air, reflecting the city that surrounds it. … The pavilion is a literal and figurative reflection of the city it is located in.”

White said the plan had one of the most detailed line-item budgets of all the entries and that they were impressed with the resumes of the architects.

Mayor Dayne Walling said he is excited to see the structure built.

“The new public art sculpture will be a new dimension for downtown. I can’t wait to see it go up. It’s going to be a magnet for energy and entertainment,” he said.

Zacks said Walling was instrumental in getting the contest underway, but Walling said he was happy to see organizations outside city hall stepping up to take on such projects.

“It’s encouraging to have community groups taking initiative, and our job at the city is to say yes and to make sure that the safety regulations and traffic engineering concerns are addressed in a way that will allow these projects to work,” Walling said.

When asked why an art project such as the flat lot structure would help a city like Flint with a myriad of problems, White pointed to other examples of community art, like the annual Art Prize event in Grand Rapids.

“I think that art has absolutely, one hundred percent proven its worth and its ability to transform its city,” she said. “This is just the start of it.”

She also pointed to a similar contest in Long Island, NY. “Their prize went from $25,000 just like we started with, to over $75,000, and we hope to grow this competition.”

A grant obtained by FPAP as well as money from the AIA and other sponsors are funding the current competition.

Organizers say they want the Flat Lot Competition to become an annual event. White said she expects it to grow because such contests give young and hungry designers and architects the chance to get their name out in the world.

Two Islands was founded by and is composted of William Villalobos, Cesc Massanas, and Tom Selva.

“The city of Flint and the competition organizers have given us a great opportunity to create a forward-looking project,” Villalobos said in a prepared statement. “We’re very excited to build the structure.”

The structure is meant to be temporary and disassembled in the fall. While some submitted designs were only meant to last a few months, White said this structure may have a longer life and that they’re considering how and where they might find it a permanent home.
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source: architetti

L’associazione Flint Public Art Project ha annunciato i vincitori di Flat Lot, concorso bandito nella nota città del Michigan per la realizzazione di un padiglione estivo temporaneo all’interno di un lotto dedicato a parcheggi comunemente conosciuto come Flat Lot.

Il programma del concorso prevedeva che il padiglione non occupasse più di otto posti auto e servisse da palcoscenico ai vari eventi estivi organizzati dalla città, oltre a creare uno spazio in cui sostare, ripararsi all’ombra e trovare refrigerio.
Tra i 221 progetti presentati, provenienti da 35 paesi diversi, vincitore del primo premio di 25.000 dollari è risultato il progetto Mark’s House dello studio londinese Two Islands fondato da William Villalobos, Cesc Massanas e Tomas Selva.

Il progetto racconta la storia di un abitante immaginario di Flint, Mark Hamilton, la cui famiglia perde la casa a causa di un pignoramento, storia piuttosto comune nella dura recessione che ha colpito la città. La proposta rievoca una casa in stile Tudor rivestita da pannelli a specchio e posata sulla cima di un piedistallo, anch’esso riflettente, che dona al passante l’illusione che la struttura galleggi a mezz’aria.
Il padiglione vuole essere una metafora di ciò che la città ha perso ma anche uno specchio della rivitalizzazione a cui sta andando incontro e servirà da palcoscenico a vari eventi pubblici che Flat Lot ospita abitualmente, oltre ad allietare i passanti grazie ai 6.000 litri di acqua che il volume “sospeso” può contenere e che saranno nebulizzati sui passanti durante gli afosi giorni estivi.
Il padiglione sarà inaugurato il 14 giugno e sarà visibile a Flat Lot fino al prossimo autunno.
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source: detailde

“Unser Parkplatz soll schöner werden” – zumindest temporär geht dieser Wunsch für die Bewohner von Flint demnächst in Erfüllung…

Das Flint Public Art Projekt und das Flint Chapter of the American Institute of Architects hatten letzten Herbst einen neuen Wettbewerb ausgeschrieben: Gesucht war der Entwurf für eine temporäre Struktur, die nicht mehr als acht Parkplätze in Anspruch nehmen würde und geeignet ist für öffentliche Programme und Events – also Sitze, Schatten, Kühlung und eine Bühne für Vorstellungen bietet.

Fast 400 Teams aus 35 Ländern haben ihre Entwürfe eingereicht, gewonnen hat das Londoner Team Two Islands (William Villalobos, Cesc Massanas und Tomas Selva).

Ihr Entwurf “Mark’s House” erzählt die Geschichte eines imaginären Einwohners von Flint, Mark Hamilton. Das Projekt stelzt ein Tudor-Stil Haus, mit reflektierenden Paneelen verkleidet, auf ein verspiegeltes Podest – die ganze Struktur scheint über dem Boden zu schweben. Pfiffiges Extra für heiße Sommertage: Das Gebilde kann Wasser speichern, dass dann bei besonders hohen Temperaturen zur Kühlung auf die Besucher geprüht wird.
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source: archdaily

Ocupando não mais que oito vagas de estacionamento, no centro da cidade de Flint, Michigan, este pavilhão temporário de verão foi concebido como uma representação abstrata, reflexiva e flutuante de uma Michigander. Escolheu-se uma casa em estilo Tudor como a proposta vencedora no primeiro concurso Flat Lot, apresentado por Flint Public Art Project e o Flint Chapter of the American Institute of Architects

Mais informações sobre o vencedor a seguir…

Projetado por Two Islands, um escritório londrino fundado por William Villalobos, Cesc Massanas e Tomas Selva, a proposta vencedora, Mark’s House serve como uma “metáfora tanto para o que a cidade perdeu, como sua revitalização em curso”. Consiste em uma cobertura, com bancos e um palco para eventos na área. Além disso a estrutura pode armazenar até 1.500 litros de água, que podem ser lançados como spray de refrigeração durante os dias quentes de verão.

2Courtesy of Flint Public Art Project
O escritório recebeu um prêmio de $25.000 para desenhar e construir o projeto até dia 14 de Junho, para o Flint Art Walk. Permanecerá montado até o outono.