The MoMA PS1 courtyard in Queens has become a temporary residence for ping-pong and foosball tables, wading pools, a sandbox, and a lifeguard stand — untraditional adornments for an award-winning art installation and a hip outdoor concert venue.

Winning the 12th annual Young Architects Program, New York architecture firm Interboro Partners was given free rein to transform the courtyard for the annual summer exhibition. The firm filled the space with 79 objects—largely made of recycled plywood—that will be donated to over 50 organizations in the Long Island City neighborhood in the fall.

The exhibition,Holding Pattern, is open to the public June 19 through September 19. MoMA PS1’s concert seriesWarm Up 2011runs from July 2 through September 3.



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Young Architects Program judges and organizers discuss this year’s winning installation. From left: MoMA Chief Curator of Architecture and Design Barry Bergdoll, MAXXI Senior Curator of Architecture Pippo Ciorra, MoMA PS1 Director Klaus Biesenbach, and MoMA Director Glenn D. Lowry.


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Translucent cloth, cut into strips to look like sails, shades the courtyard.


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A lifeguard stand will be donated to the Salah M. Hassanein Variety Boys & Girls Club in western Queens.


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This spring, Interboro Partners canvassed the neighborhood soliciting ideas for objects useful to the community that could be donated at the end of installation. An overwhelming number of organizations requested trees—84 will be planted in the neighborhood in the fall.