Governor's Cup

John Hill

25. July 2014

Photos: John Hill/World-Architects

On a visit to New York City's Governors Island to see the Spontaneous Interventions exhibition on Colonel's Row yesterday, we checked out CDR Studio Architects' winning submission for the annual City of Dreams Pavilion.

CDR Studio Architects' installation is made from over 30,000 recycled plastic cups that are glued and tied together, looping around the trees at the southwest corner of the island's Parade Ground. Inspired by tape-lace crochet techniques, and with structural assistance from Robert Silman Associates, Governor's Cup creates "a serpentine canopy," as the architects call it, that touches the ground in three points to create hollow "rooms." The looping cups collect falling pinecones, frame views of the trees above as well as the skyline of Lower Manhattan in the distance, and draw attention to the billions of plastic cups that are landfilled each year instead of being recycled.

Governor's Cup is on display on Governors Island until September.