Eva Jensen Design

Responding to the 2017 competition’s challenge to create four portable, deployable canopy structures for flexible use throughout the highly active environment of Socrates Sculpture Park, Eva Jensen Design conceived a minimal and clean design that emphasizes simplicity, transparency, and versatility, inspired by a fundamental shape: the circle.

Circle Shade – 2πR4 consists of three main components – a circular canopy, aluminum support poles, and cylindrical drum counter weights. The circular canopy is connected to the poles with custom designed high strength structural 3D-printed joint nodes, engineered as rigid connections, with the ability to customize for variable pitches to the canopy. Elegantly simple, each canopy tilts while the structures can rotate in position to one another, exuding a playful character that complements the spirit of the Park.

Circle Shade – 2πR4 offers a transparent, unobstructed view of the Park and its vistas and may be arranged in compelling clusters to host more dynamic events. Its cylindrical counter weights may be used as step stools, display surfaces, or additional seating, and includes Socrates Sculpture Park’s iconic eyebeam logo and celebrates it as form and functional branding.

Jensen’s proposal was selected from submissions from around the world and reviewed by a jury of six esteemed architects, engineers, and artists, comprising Tatiana Bilbao (Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO), Eric Bunge (nARCHITECTS), Mary Miss (Artist, City as Living Laboratory), Craig Schwitter (BuroHappold Engineering), Hayes Slade (Slade Architecture), and John Hatfield (Executive Director of Socrates Sculpture Park).

The final design included sponsored collaboration from several generous vendors: Truth Concrete developed custom concrete counterweights; Manhattan Shade & Glass fabricated, bound, and sewed the structures’ membrane canopies; Reflect Printing and Graphic Design was responsible for printing the Park’s logo on the canopy; and Phorm, Inc. CNC milled the Russian birch plywood counterweight seats and fabrication jigs.

Catalogue

View the exhibition catalogue free online HERE>>>