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Canopy
Canopy
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Canopy
Type
YEAR
2004
SIZE
10,000 sqft - 25,000 sqft
Canopy was a
temporary structure built with green bamboo in the courtyard of P.S.1, a
contemporary art and music venue whose weekly Warm Up music parties attract
8,000 revelers every Saturday in the summer. Museum goers lounge, play, and dance to some
of the most avant-garde dj’s and groups to visit New
York. The
weekday and Sunday audience is quieter: students, and families with children. Overall, Canopy
was host to more than 100,000 visitors during its five months of existence,
during which time it underwent a slow transformation as the freshly cut green
bamboo turned from green to tan. This
rapid transformation emphasized Canopy’s
brevity, allowing visitors to experience the effects of time in a direct and
tactile way. The English word canopy
refers to both the overarching covering of a sky and the uppermost region of a
forest. The architects developed the
idea of a “deep landscape” to stitch together the limits of the existing site
(ground, concrete walls, sky) with one material. Canopy
relied on a singular tectonic system for shade, structure, and atmosphere. Pinches in the undulating lattice produced a
range of shadow densities and patterns across the courtyard. Dips in the canopy defined rooms open to the
sky, each with a distinct climatic environment for different modes of lounging:
Pool Pad incorporated a large wading
pool; Fog Pad was surrounded by
nozzles that spread a halo of cool mist on revelers; Rainforest featured a sound environment and misters that provided
intermittent rain showers and randomly soaked the crowd; and Sand Hump's sandy cove maximized exposure
to either sun or shade.nARCHITECTS' challenge resided in the physical translation of
a geometrically precise structure, using a natural material with inherently
variable characteristics. Every arc in Canopy
was digitally modeled in 3D, then exported as a 2D elevation drawing, with its
exact length and intersection points indicated. The type, general shape, and
critical radius of the arc dictated the pole selection, orientation, and
splicing method. nARCHITECTS and their
team of architecture students and recent graduates then spent six weeks on site
testing each arc type to determine the maximum span, minimum bending radii, and
overlap dimensions, before building the structure itself over a period of seven
weeks. The project utilized 9,400 meters
of flexible, freshly cut green Philostachys Aurea bamboo from Georgia, spliced
and bound together with 11,300 meters of stainless-steel wire. Since Canopy was
designed as a three-dimensional structural network, the arcs were subjected to
more stress during erection than in the final stage. The architects devised a
phasing sequence that optimized the structural capabilities of bamboo and
minimized breakages. Starting with small areas of the canopy, the team erected
structural spanning arcs first and non-supporting arcs second, repeating the
sequence until the overall shape had developed. Each arc was assembled on the ground by
splicing together 7-meter bamboo poles with stainless-steel wire and marking
off each intersection point. Their tips
wrapped in neoprene, structural spanning arcs were inserted into the steel
pipes welded to either ring beams or wall straps. Once lifted into place, they were temporarily
held at their intersections with other arcs with plastic zip ties. Matching the exact length of the drawn profile
from the digital model naturally produced a close approximation in shape and
height for each erected arc. However,
the precise geometry was achieved by stretching surveying strings across
critical gridlines, adjusting heights with temporary posts and nudging each arc
into place before finally binding each intersection with wire. The wire made for a rigid lattice, and the
final canopy acted as a multi-directional structural network of more than 300
individual arcs, whose shape was precisely translated from the digital model.At the end of the summer, nARCHITECTS sold the bamboo as raw
material to the artist Matthew Barney’s studio, for the construction of
scaffolding in a film set. Everyone
assumed that the bamboo would have lost its elasticity after being effectively
molded into shape for so long, so it was a surprise when the bamboo immediately
sprang back straight as soon as it was cut down.
temporary structure built with green bamboo in the courtyard of P.S.1, a
contemporary art and music venue whose weekly Warm Up music parties attract
8,000 revelers every Saturday in the summer. Museum goers lounge, play, and dance to some
of the most avant-garde dj’s and groups to visit New
York. The
weekday and Sunday audience is quieter: students, and families with children. Overall, Canopy
was host to more than 100,000 visitors during its five months of existence,
during which time it underwent a slow transformation as the freshly cut green
bamboo turned from green to tan. This
rapid transformation emphasized Canopy’s
brevity, allowing visitors to experience the effects of time in a direct and
tactile way. The English word canopy
refers to both the overarching covering of a sky and the uppermost region of a
forest. The architects developed the
idea of a “deep landscape” to stitch together the limits of the existing site
(ground, concrete walls, sky) with one material. Canopy
relied on a singular tectonic system for shade, structure, and atmosphere. Pinches in the undulating lattice produced a
range of shadow densities and patterns across the courtyard. Dips in the canopy defined rooms open to the
sky, each with a distinct climatic environment for different modes of lounging:
Pool Pad incorporated a large wading
pool; Fog Pad was surrounded by
nozzles that spread a halo of cool mist on revelers; Rainforest featured a sound environment and misters that provided
intermittent rain showers and randomly soaked the crowd; and Sand Hump's sandy cove maximized exposure
to either sun or shade.nARCHITECTS' challenge resided in the physical translation of
a geometrically precise structure, using a natural material with inherently
variable characteristics. Every arc in Canopy
was digitally modeled in 3D, then exported as a 2D elevation drawing, with its
exact length and intersection points indicated. The type, general shape, and
critical radius of the arc dictated the pole selection, orientation, and
splicing method. nARCHITECTS and their
team of architecture students and recent graduates then spent six weeks on site
testing each arc type to determine the maximum span, minimum bending radii, and
overlap dimensions, before building the structure itself over a period of seven
weeks. The project utilized 9,400 meters
of flexible, freshly cut green Philostachys Aurea bamboo from Georgia, spliced
and bound together with 11,300 meters of stainless-steel wire. Since Canopy was
designed as a three-dimensional structural network, the arcs were subjected to
more stress during erection than in the final stage. The architects devised a
phasing sequence that optimized the structural capabilities of bamboo and
minimized breakages. Starting with small areas of the canopy, the team erected
structural spanning arcs first and non-supporting arcs second, repeating the
sequence until the overall shape had developed. Each arc was assembled on the ground by
splicing together 7-meter bamboo poles with stainless-steel wire and marking
off each intersection point. Their tips
wrapped in neoprene, structural spanning arcs were inserted into the steel
pipes welded to either ring beams or wall straps. Once lifted into place, they were temporarily
held at their intersections with other arcs with plastic zip ties. Matching the exact length of the drawn profile
from the digital model naturally produced a close approximation in shape and
height for each erected arc. However,
the precise geometry was achieved by stretching surveying strings across
critical gridlines, adjusting heights with temporary posts and nudging each arc
into place before finally binding each intersection with wire. The wire made for a rigid lattice, and the
final canopy acted as a multi-directional structural network of more than 300
individual arcs, whose shape was precisely translated from the digital model.At the end of the summer, nARCHITECTS sold the bamboo as raw
material to the artist Matthew Barney’s studio, for the construction of
scaffolding in a film set. Everyone
assumed that the bamboo would have lost its elasticity after being effectively
molded into shape for so long, so it was a surprise when the bamboo immediately
sprang back straight as soon as it was cut down.
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