Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

The first New York Frieze Art Fair took place last weekend inside a 450 metre-long snaking white tent designed by Brooklyn architects SO-IL.

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

Located between Manhattan, Bronx and Queens on Randall’s Island, the structure comprised six rented rectangular tents connected with wedge-shaped corner sections.

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

Strips of white tent fabric overhanging the two gabled ends were fanned out and fastened to the ground, creating partially sheltered entrances.

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

This is the first year that the Frieze Art Fair has taken place in New York as well as London.

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

See Carmody Groarke’s timber pavilions for last year’s London event here.

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

See more stories about SO-IL here, including a temporary pavilion with reflective purple scales created for an arts festival in Beijing.

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

Photography is by Iwan Baan.

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

Here’s some more information from SO-IL:


Frieze Art Fair NYC

Working with a prefabricated rental structure forced us to be inventive with a limited vocabulary.

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

Randall’s Island, situated in between Manhattan, Bronx and Queens is one of the few pieces of open land in New York City large enough to accommodate the 225,000sf, 1500 ft long structure.

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

Pie-shaped tent section wedges are inserted between six tent sections to relax and open up the standardized system, and offer amenities at each section as a moment of recess.

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

The wedges bend the otherwise straight tent into a meandering, supple, shape.

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

The winding form animates it on the unusual waterfront site, as well as establishing the temporary structure as an icon along the water.

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

The wedges divide the relentless length of the fair into manageable sections.

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

Rather than exposing the end gable section at each end of the tent, we extended the tent roof fabric in stripes, dissolving the tent into the ground.

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

The playful entrances introduce visitors to the experience within.

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

Client: Frieze Art Fair

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL
Location: New York

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL
Program: exhibition spaces, event space, cafes

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL
Area: 20.900 m² / 225,000 sf

Frieze Art Fair NYC by SO-IL

Frieze Art Fair Pavilions by Carmody Groarke

Frieze Art Fair Pavilions by Carmody Groarke

London architects Carmody Groarke arranged temporary timber pavilions around the trees in Regent’s Park for this year’s Frieze Art Fair.

Frieze Art Fair Pavilions by Carmody Groarke

The three pavilions surrounded a series of courtyards, through which the trees emerged.

Frieze Art Fair Pavilions by Carmody Groarke

Translucent plastic wrapped the exterior walls and roofs of the structures, creating windows across voids in the timber.

Frieze Art Fair Pavilions by Carmody Groarke

The pavilions housed VIP rooms in addition to public seating and dining areas for the event, whilst artworks were on show in neighbouring tents.

Frieze Art Fair Pavilions by Carmody Groarke

Carmody Groarke have designed a few pavilions that have been featured on Dezeen – see our earlier stories about a temporary rooftop restaurant and a pavilion supported by thin metal rods. See all our stories about the architects here.

Frieze Art Fair Pavilions by Carmody Groarke

Above: construction photograph by Richard Davies

Photography is by Christian Richters, apart from where otherwise stated.

Frieze Art Fair Pavilions by Carmody Groarke

Above: construction photograph by Richard Davies

Here’s some text the architects wrote before the festival:


Carmody Groarke’s design for 2011 Frieze Art Fair

Each Autumn Frieze Art Fair shows works by more than 1000 artists which are represented by contemporary galleries from all over the world.

Frieze Art Fair Pavilions by Carmody Groarke

Above: photograph by Richard Davies

The fair is hosted within a 20000m2 temporary venue built from tent structures within the beautiful context of Regents Park, London.

Frieze Art Fair Pavilions by Carmody Groarke

Above: photograph by Richard Davies

There is a focus on living artists and a curated programme of talks, artists’ commissions and film projects, many of which are interactive or performative, and encourage visitors to engage with art and artist directly over its four day lifespan.

Frieze Art Fair Pavilions by Carmody Groarke

Above: photograph by Richard Davies

Working closely with Frieze, Carmody Groarke have evolved a concept that has created more premium gallery spaces within the tents than in previous years, and a new experience for the fair by placing a series of interlinked, translucent pavilions surrounding the perimeter of the large exhibition tents.

Frieze Art Fair Pavilions by Carmody Groarke

Above: photograph by Richard Davies

These will contain all of the public hospitality and VIP functions, located away from the exhibition spaces, and will be characterised by timber-lined ‘rooms’ that are arranged around the existing trees within the park.

Frieze Art Fair Pavilions by Carmody Groarke

The project also includes a series of architectural installations within the main exhibition tents, based upon public squares and coloured, felt-lined rooms which provide spaces for resting and refreshment within the overall epic scale of the fair.


See also:

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Regent’s Place Pavilion
by Carmody Groarke
NLA Sky Walk
by Carmody Groarke
Studio East
by Carmody Groark
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