StudioKCA’s NASA Orbit Pavilion Debuts on the West Coast at The Huntington Library in San Marino, CA
StudioKCA, a New York-based architecture firm, has designed the aluminum, seashell-like structure for the NASA Orbit Pavilion that will be on view at The Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botanical Gardens from October 29, 2016 to February 27, 2017. The StudioKCA-designed structure houses a sound installation, created in collaboration with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and sound artist Shane Myrbeck, that represents the movement of the International Space Station and 19 earth satellites through artistically created sounds.
“Like holding a shell to one’s ear to listen the ocean, what if you could walk into a massive shell and listen to the sounds of space, or rather, a symphony built out of the sounds of satellites in space?”, says Jason Klimoski, principal of StudioKCA. Visitors can enter the pavilion and gain a sonic and experiential understanding of how NASA satellites circumnavigate the Earth.
Jason Klimoski and his partner Lesley Chang, the designers/architects that form the StudioKCA team, worked closely with NASA’s data and Myrbeck’s composition to create a sound chamber consisting of 28 speakers spatially arranged to mimic orbits. Visitors are surrounded by this sonic experience, as satellites seem to fly over, under, and around them. The pattern of the nautilus structure reflects the paths of space satellites as well: 100 orbital paths are water jet cut from 3,500 square feet of aluminum panels that elegantly fit together around a curved framework of aluminum tubes. The pavilion’s design minimizes external noise and decreases the wind loads on the light structure to create an immersive environment.
NASA Orbit Pavilion is the first exhibition on view as part of Five, an initiative that connects The Huntington’s vast and multifaceted collections to five external organizations and array of contemporary artists over the next five years. The Huntington is home to a significant collection on the history of astronomy and aerospace, making the pavilion—a collaborative art and science project—a stellar first iteration of the series.
The Pavilion debuted in the summer of 2015 at the World Science Festival at New York University and then traveled to The Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum in New York. The Huntington Library is the pavilion’s first appearance on the west coast.
About StudioKCA
StudioKCA is an award-winning architecture and design firm led by Jason Klimoski and Lesley Chang based in Brooklyn, New York. The firm’s projects range in scale and complexity from lighting fixtures and interiors, to public installations, sculptures and buildings in the U.S. and abroad. StudioKCA’s work is engaged in bringing abstract concepts to life while raising awareness of real world issues and events. They believe in the careful use of materials to shape a narrative, create a sense of place, and offer unique solutions that resonate with their clients and the client’s sites.
The work of the firm has been honored with design awards including an American Institute of Architects National Small Project Award, AIA New York City of Dreams Pavilion Winner, AIA Brooklyn + Queens Design Merit Award, SARA New York Chapter Design Award of Excellence, two Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Awards, three Interior Design Magazine Best of Year Award Honors, two Architizer A+ Award Finalists, and The Architect’s Newspaper Best of Young Architects Award Honorable Mention.
The work of the firm has been published in Architectural Record, Interior Design, The Architect’s Newspaper, Architectural Digest, Wired, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, New York Magazine, Time Out New York, and broadcast on The Weather Channel, CNN, and Discovery Channel.
The firm’s public pavilions and installations have been exhibited in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Governors Island, The World Science Festival, and the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, all in New York, and at the Exploratorium Museum in San Francisco, CA and the Jockey Club in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
About The Huntington
The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens is a collection-based research and educational institution serving scholars and the general public. More information about The Huntington can we found at www.huntington.org
About the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research lab managed by Caltech for NASA. JPL explores our solar system and beyond, as well as our home planet from the vantage point of space. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
