The Beaux Arts Ball

The Architectural League of New York’s annual Beaux Arts Ball event traditionally celebrates a space of architectural grandeur through the insertion of a temporary installation. For this year’s Ball, the League invited eight architects and designers to create animated footage to be projected on the interior wall and corner vaults of the 1875 Williamsburg Savings Bank in Brooklyn. Our four minute-long contribution addresses the building’s recent, extensive restoration by exploring the theme of decay and re-building. Through a sequence of several short, animated vignettes of varied length, we portray the building’s use and materiality over time: from a fictitious history, to the present, to an imagined future. Each vignette incorporates a different aspect of the building, commenting on its unique geometries, ornamentation, and spaces.