Architects
Tobias Armborst
(with Charles Warren & Vassar College Students)
"Look Out"
The tree tall narrow buildings that comprise this memorial relate to the pine forest on the Byrdcliffe property. Inside, there will be space for one or two visitors and maybe a bench. Because the space is tall, visitors will be compelled to look upwards. At the apex of each roof, a small window will frame the sky and refer to the Quadricentennial, One, for example, will take the shape of a half moon, an allusion to the fact that Hudson's ship bore the name "De Halve Maen" (Half Moon). The construction will be simple yet elegant and utilize natural and recycled materials. The exterior and interior walls will have the texture and character of recycled weathered wood applied like old–fashioned lathe. The structures are reminiscent of ship constructions.
The heart of the idea, and the reason why the building relates to Henry Hudson, is not only the half moon view window, but the individual spirit of the buildings. They are designed to have their eyes on the sky, a reference to the goal, the imagination of the explorer. Each is a space for the contemplation of dreams. When standing in our building, visitors should feel that building is just for them and their thoughts.
A group of half a dozen Vassar students gathered at Byrdcliffe to build “Look Out”. The installation is the product of a design/build workshop using only natural and salvaged materials the students can find on site or in the surrounding area of Woodstock. They constructed three tall conical structures, each providing contemplative spaces for one or two visitors.
Bio
Tobias Armborst is an assistant professor of art and urban studies at Vassar College, and a principal and co-founder of Interboro Partners, a New York-based architecture, planning, and research firm.
With Interboro, Tobias won the New Practices New York Award in 2006, and the Architectural League's Young Architects Award in 2005. Interboro’s current projects include a temporary sculpture park and tree nursery in Tribeca;, a neighborhood plan for Newark, New Jersey;, an installation at the Casablanca Architecture Biennial and an exhibition on “naturally occurring retirement communities (Norcs)” in New York City. Interboro’s work has been exhibited widely, most recently at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburg, the German Architecture Museum in Frankfurt and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. Currently Tobias is co-curating the International Architecture Biennial Rotterdam 2009, which deals with the “Open City.”
Tobias Armborst is a member of the New York Foundation for the Arts’ artists advisory board and a co–founder of The Metropolitan Exchange, a non–profit research cooperative in downtown Brooklyn, whose mission is to broaden the local architecture and planning discourse by sponsoring lectures, exhibitions, and research initiatives. He received a Master of Architecture in Urban Design with Distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and a Diplom–Ingenieur from the Rheinisch–Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Germany.
