This summer, New York’s moniker “concrete jungle” will become a bit more literal—at least at MoMA PS1 in Queens, where Mexico City–based firm Pedro & Juana will install Hórama Rama for the 20th annual Young Architects Program (YAP).
Designed by firm founders Ana Paula Ruiz Galindo and Mecky Reuss, a 360-degree panoramic image of a jungle will hover over the museum’s concrete courtyard, with wood “bristles” protruding from the exterior of the 40-foot-tall, 90-foot-wide cyclorama. Standing on the ground beneath the cylindrical structure, viewers will look up to find scenes of lush foliage instead of the neighborhood's urban sights.
"Finding inspiration in historical panoramas, Pedro & Juana have designed a structure that will allow visitors to immerse themselves in a fantastical wilderness, a visual refuge from the city,” says MoMA PS1 Chief Curator Peter Eleey. “By juxtaposing two landscapes in transition—the jungle and the Long Island City skyline—they draw attention to the evolving conditions of our environment, both globally and locally, at a crucial moment.”
Pedro & Juana participated in the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial in 2015, and partnered with Airbnb on an installation for Design Miami 2016. In 2017, as part of Johnston Marklee & Associates’ overhaul of Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, the designers created a geometric hanging garden.
Each year, the YAP competition challenges emerging firms to design temporary outdoor structures for the MoMA PS1 courtyard, working within environmentally sensitive guidelines to provide shade, seating, and water. Past winners include Dream the Combine (2018), from Minneapolis; Ithaca, New York–based Jenny Sabin (2017), a winner of RECORD’s 2016 Women in Architecture awards; and Escobedo Soliz Studio (2016), also from Mexico City.
Complete with hammocks and a functioning waterfall, Pedro & Juana’s installation Hórama Rama will open in June 2019.