Happy by Studio Cadena is the Winner of the 2018 Flatiron Public Plaze Design Competion

11 / 20

2018

architectural competitions, architecture in usa

Studio Cadena’s site-specific installation Happy, the winner of the fifth annual Flatiron Public Plaza Design Competition hosted by the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership Business Improvement District (BID) and Van Alen Institute, has opened to the public. Happy is the centerpiece of the annual program and a highly visible landmark in this thriving New York City neighborhood.

Happy by Studio Cadena is the Winner of the 2018 Flatiron Public Plaze Design Competion
© Cameron Blaylock

Architect: Studio Cadena
Client: Van Alen Institute / Flatiron 23rd Street Partnership
Location: New York, USA
Year: 2018
Lead designer: Benjamin Cadena / Studio Cadena
Structural engineer: Silman
Fabrication and installation: YOUNGBUK Art Services, LLC.
Photography: Cameron Blaylock, Benjamin Cadena

Happy by Studio Cadena is the Winner of the 2018 Flatiron Public Plaze Design Competion
© Cameron Blaylock

“We all wish each other happiness during the holidays. This installation physically manifests this well wishing to all who visit Flatiron,” says Benjamin Cadena, Founder and Principal of Studio Cadena. “In our otherwise bleak social and political context, it aspires to carve a small and more positive space in the city—it offers a warm embrace during the cold winter months.”

Happy by Studio Cadena is the Winner of the 2018 Flatiron Public Plaze Design Competion
© Cameron Blaylock

Happy features 23 softly shaped transparent vinyl screens that drape down from an open frame to inscribe an intimate collective space within. Its rich colored surface projects a highly visible and memorable figure from a distance, and up close, filters views inside and out by infusing the surrounding context in a rich saturated glow. Gently swaying in the breeze, it shimmers and reflects while it casts long colored shadows in the low light of late fall and early winter. Happy is a simple device to make you stop, wonder, and most importantly, smile.

Happy by Studio Cadena is the Winner of the 2018 Flatiron Public Plaze Design Competion
© Cameron Blaylock

Studio Cadena's design was selected from among nine proposals by firms including Agency—Agency; Brandt : Haferd; MODU; N H M D; Office III; P.R.O. and Wolfgand & Hite.

Happy will be on view from November 19, 2018 through January 1, 2019 at the Flatiron North Public Plaza, located at the intersection of Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and 23rd Street.

Happy by Studio Cadena is the Winner of the 2018 Flatiron Public Plaze Design Competion
© Benjamin Cadena