In Fire Island Pines, the storied gay resort town 50 miles from Manhattan, the talk last weekend—somewhat surprisingly—was about architecture. At Whyte Hall, a community center designed by architect Scott Bromley (who got his start creating sets for Studio 54), Christopher Rawlins signed copies of his book about Horace Gifford, the designer of dozens of houses in the Pines in the 1960s and 70s. As Rawlins proves in his book, Fire Island Modernist, Gifford’s houses, though deferential to their natural surroundings, are based on serious architectural ideas derived, in part, from Louis Kahn, with whom Gifford studied at the University of Pennsylvania. The floor plans of some of Gifford’s houses, reproduced in the book, make dazzling use of Kahn’s concept of “served” and “servant” spaces.
At the same time, the Pines Pavilion, the disco designed by Manhattan’s HWKN, was opening, and everyone had an opinion. Replacing a forgettable building that burned down in the fall of 2011, the new Pines Pavilion is, like the best Gifford houses, a piece of serious architecture in an informal setting. Indeed, it could be seen as the love child of Gifford and OMA, where Matthias Hollwich worked for four years before forming HWKN with partner Marc Kushner. Like Gifford’s buildings, it is sheathed in wood. Like OMA’s, it is a strong geometric presence, angular and asymmetrical, with a gigantic truss system.
You have 0 complimentary articles remaining.
Unlimited access + premium benefits for as low as $1.99/month.