This summer, Wendy will be tidying up the neighborhood in Queens, New York. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will be attempting to clean the air in style at its PS1 satellite location with an outdoor architectural project that's designed to provide shade, shelter and water while also plucking pollutants out of the sky.
Wendy's spiky arms aren't just a dramatic piece of eye candy - the fabric skin is treated with titanium dioxide nanoparticles that neutralize airborne pollutants. HWKN, the architectural firm behind the project, says this summer Wendy will clean the air to the equivalent of removing 260 cars from the road.
The firm says that while her air-cleaning qualities are sure to garner some attention, "Wendy's real beauty is on the inside – behind Wendy there is a very complex structural system. 5,478 elements, 345 hours of calculations."
The entire structure will be supported by a scaffolding system 70 feet square (21.3 meters) and 45 feet (13.7 meters) tall.
HWKN won MoMA's annual Young Architect's Program to develop a temporary, outdoor installation at MoMA PS1 in Queens that provides shade, seating, and water. Elements of sustainability and recycling were also required to be part of the design, which will ultimately serve as a "partyscape" backdrop for a series of summer outdoor concerts at PS1.
According to the official program from PS1:
"Wendy sits far enough away from the stage used for the annual Warm Up events to let the concerts go on unimpeded, but close enough to the entrance to create a filter and initial impact to visitors. It bridges over the walls into the large and small courtyards of MoMA PS1."
Wendy will be at MoMA PS1 from June 28 to September 8, 2012.
You can take a brief virtual tour of Wendy in the video below.
Source: Meet Wendy via Fast Company