Green on the Inside

Today was the first day of Figment NYC, a weekend-long festival on Governors Island with a focus on interactive, participatory art. Along with dozens of ephemeral artworks, the event is hosting a few semi-permanent installations, including a mini-golf course, a sculpture garden, and the winner of this year’s City of Dreams Pavilion Competition. The latter is a low-tech structure made of plastic milk cartons sandwiched between a CNC-milled plywood skeleton, with a lush interior lining of of Liriope plants. Called the Living Pavilion, it’s the work of the New York architects Behrang Behin and Ann Ha (although they’re quick to point out that the project was realized thanks to the help of about 70 volunteers, most of them students or underemployed architects.) As for the idea to put the greenery inside the structure, rather than on the roof, Behin says it was “an old architect’s trick–take what you have and turn it upside down.” Or inside out, as the case may be. The Living Pavilion will be on display on New York’s Governor’s Island until October 3; click here for the ferry schedule.

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