Studio Gang's 'Hive' Unveiled

John Hill

18. April 2017

Images: Studio Gang

Washington, DC's National Building Museum has released renderings of Studio Gang's "Hive" interactive installation that will be on display this summer as part of the museum's annual Summer Block Party series.

Hive, the fourth Summer Block Party iteration, will be made of more than 2,700 wound paper tubes that will reach high into the museum's soaring atrium space. Per a statement from the museum:

The tubes vary in size from several inches to 10 feet high and will be interlocked to create three dynamic interconnected, domed chambers. Reaching 60 feet tall, the installation’s tallest dome will feature an oculus over 10 feet in diameter. The tubes feature a reflective silver exterior and vivid magenta interior.

Although the statement describes parallels to Eero Saarinen's Gateway Arch, Brunelleschi's Dome, and vernacular Musgum mud huts, we can't help but think back to the first collaboration of the National Building Museum and Jeanne Gang's firm: Marble Curtain, part of the 2003 exhibition Masonry Variations. Although that earlier installation explored the structural impact of stone held in tension, and the new installation exploits a material that is conversely recyclable, lightweight, and renewable, the curved space of Marble Curtain is reiterated to a degree in Hive.

"Hive" will be open to the public from 4 July to 4 September 2017.