Abandoned public schoolhouse is a haven for young artists

Now that school has started and an uncomfortable chill has crept into the air, we easily forget the hazy carefree days of summer. But at P.S.1, the Museum of Modern Art’s oversized outpost in Queens, there is still a hint of the party atmosphere that infects New York for those three blissful summer months.

P.S.1, which was founded in 1971 and became affiliated with the MoMA in 2000, is a hub for current trends in contemporary culture, providing an outlet for old and new artists to experiment, create, and discuss art of their own era.

The abandoned public schoolhouse setting makes visitors feel as if they have stumbled upon something truly unique—one of the few spaces fully committed to supporting underground movements and artists off the beaten track.

The Young Architects Program (YAP) is no exception to P.S.1’s progressive mission. In 1998, the Australian artist collective Gelatin created an installation in the P.S. 1 courtyard to accompany “Warm Up,” a series of summer parties where crowds gathered to dance to new wave music.
Gelatin’s structure, Percutaneous Delights, was an interactive pleasure ground for partygoers to experience some of the best perks of summer, including sprinklers, saunas, and even a refrigerated room. Two years later YAP was born in collaboration with “Warm Up,” allowing fresh architects to compete to showcase their work at one of New York’s most anticipated events.

For the program’s 10th anniversary, curators and GSAPP ’09 alumni Christopher Barley and Troy Therrien transformed an exhibit space at P.S.1 into a timeline of “Warm Up” parties. Large, vibrant photographs line the walls along with sketches of the winning designs for each year. The color-saturated photos depict diverse groups of people lounging, dancing, drinking, and enjoying a rare moment of collective fun.
While the pictures are more like blown-up images from a Facebook album than aesthetic shots, they perfectly capture a relaxed and youthful community celebrating the art and music of their generation.

Many of the installations imitate cage-like structures to create a dynamic enclosure in the courtyard and protect people from the sun. Unlike most architecture that can be limited by public opinion or city planning, the YAP projects are pure, livable art. Almost anything goes as long as the plan meets three simple requirements: it must include shade, seating, and pools.

On the way to the exhibit one can see the design from this year’s “Warm Up” still on display in the P.S.1 courtyard. “Afterparty,” by the architecture firm MOS, imitates Bedouin tents that are covered in dark straw material to provide an “urban shelter” from the heat. Round hut-like spaces are connected with tall towers and small niches, creating varied senses of space and light.

Without throngs of people dancing around, “Afterparty” looks more like the hallow carcass of a strange humpbacked animal—the leftovers of a party long gone. Yet as long shadows cast down on this relic of last summer, it is still possible to feel the breeze of those easy days and remember that they will come back again.