Dream Meatpacking District enlists Brooklyn-based art and architecture collective Snarkitecture to transform the hotel’s ground floor lobby space into an interactive winter art experience for guests this holiday season. Opened on December 1, the installation will be on display and open to the public until January 16, 2015.
“We set out to find a partner that could transform our existing space into something unexpected, a really thought provoking visual experience for the holidays,” said Rohit Anand, Director of Brand Activation and Partnerships, Dream Hotels. “Snarkitecture is that partner. As one of the most progressive art collectives in the industry today, we are honored and excited to have them curate our holiday experience at Dream Meatpacking District.”
Exploring the boundaries of art and architecture, Snarkitecture’s work is focused on reinterpreting familiar spaces into spectacular, unexpected moments of wonder and interaction. The same approach was applied to the winter installation at Dream.
Set in the glass atrium spanning the rear of the lobby, Snarkitecture completely transformed the existing space into a visually stimulating winter landscape that is both architectural and ephemeral. Made entirely of white flocking, a scale replica of Dream’s distinctive circular, porthole windowed façade will create the uncanny sensory effect of being snowbound, while daylight seeps through the glass like fresh snow on a skylight. A multitude of round “window” openings disseminate across the snowbound landscape and offer a glimpse into the natural light filled atrium and 16 live Fraser fir trees reaching up to ten feet tall, suggesting a hidden, snowcapped forest awaits beyond the glass.
Continuing to challenge the imagination, four windows are revealed as glass vitrines inhabited by various holiday landscapes, each offering a secret surprise to the viewer. Architectural and natural landscapes are reimagined and abstracted in Snarkitecture’s signature white on white approach. Lined with mirrors, the lit displays reflect infinitely as viewers peer in, creating an unexpected and memorable moment of wonder for the holidays.
“Our goal is to make architecture perform the unexpected,” said Alex Mustonen, Partner and Co- Founder, Snarkitecture. “We’re excited to bring our vision to a holiday window display for Dream, creating a hidden architectural moment that plays off the intimate vibe of the lobby. We look forward to hotel guests and visitors discovering this unexpected moment throughout the holidays!”
Snarkitecture is a collaborative and experimental practice operating in territories between art and architecture. The name is drawn from Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of The Snark, a poem describing an “impossible voyage of an improbable crew to find an inconceivable creature.” Snarkitecture investigates the unknown within architecture – the indefinable moments created by manipulating and reinterpreting existing materials, structures and programs to spectacular effect.
Exploring the boundaries of disciplines, the studio designs permanent, architectural scale projects and functional objects with new and imaginative purposes. Snarkitecture’s approach focuses on the viewer’s experience and memory, creating moments of wonder and interaction that allow people to engage directly with their surrounding environment. By transforming the familiar into the extraordinary, Snarkitecture makes architecture perform the unexpected.
