by Camila Schaulson Frenz
The Center for Architecture kicked off Halloween weekend with its first annual Pumpkitecture! competition. Twenty New York City-based firms went gourd-to-gourd to compete for the Pritzkerpumpkin.
Awakening the spooky specters of architects past, the participating firms channeled their creative spirits to demonstrate their eeriest eye for design. Beyond the standard pumpkin-carving tool set, supplied by the Center, firms were encouraged to bring their own tools and materials, resulting in a range of additional supplies, from jagged saws to electric drills and even cement. The world was their pumpkin.
After an hour and a half of carving, our dreaded, deadly jury, composed by Avinash Rajagopal, Senior Editor, Metropolis magazine; Robert Kirkbride, Dean, Parsons School of Constructed Environments, and architect, Morbid Anatomy Museum; Phebe Pierson, Union Square Greenmarket; Michael McDonnell, Coney Island Brewing Company; and Natasha Jen, Partner, Pentagram; selected the winner of the Pritzkerpumpkin and a few additional prizes. A People’s Pumpkin was also selected by the enthusiastic audience.
Pritzkerpumpkin: SITU Studio, for its concrete pumpkin void
People’s Pumpkin: ROGERS PARTNERS Architects+Urban Designers for its pumpkin half-houses, designed in honor of the work of Pritzker Prize-winner Alejandro Aravena
Spookiest Spirits: MVVA for a seasonal, whiskey-spiked, cider-filled pumpkin
Lucifer’s Lantern: WORKac for lit-up pumpkin innards
Best Vomitorium: SOFTlab for a pumpkin representation of firm principal Mike Szivos vomiting a parametric pattern
Malignant Mimic: Jaklitsch/Gardner Architects for a pumpkin Sydney Opera House
Mad Engineer: Architecture Research Office – the team, decked out in hazmat suits, suspended pumpkin cross-sections from a metal structure
Most Obscure Reference: Bernheimer Architecture for Carlo Scare-pa’s Castelzuccavecchio
We congratulate our winners and all participating firms including:
BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group
Büro Koray Duman
KPFF (KPuFFkin)
Marpillero Pollak Architects
Rockwell Group
SO-IL (SO-ILL)
Studio Gang
STUDIOS Architecture (BOO!-dios Architecture)
WEISS/MANFREDI Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism
WXY architecture + urban design