New York, October 15, 2018 - Times Square Arts has announced that Reddymade, founded by Suchi Reddy, is the winner of this year’s annual Times Square Valentine Heart Design curated by AIA New York. This year’s winning design, “X,” will be unveiled on February 1 at 11am at Father Duffy Square, between 46th and 47th Streets. The installation will remain on view for the month of February.

The winning proposal was announced at a public event and exhibition opening held at the Center for Architecture on Monday, October 15. The proposals of the eight finalists selected for the 2019 Times Square Valentine Heart Design competition will be on view through November 2.

Reddymade’s “X” evokes many expressions of interpersonal and civic love, including the written symbol for a kiss, a representation of intersecting forms, and the mark of a democratic vote.  Here, “X” explores how love within communities can manifest through connecting diversity and equality. Much like the convergence of lines in an X, people from all backgrounds cross paths in Times Square, and Reddymade’s design offers a purposeful moment for further exchange and connection.

“X” takes its form with two intersecting aluminum planes, creating a passageway through and meeting place beneath the 18-foot-tall structure - the largest and tallest winning design ever selected for this competition. Rounded openings at the crossing of the planes combine to form heart shapes when viewed from different angles. “X”’s glowing light grows brighter as people gather underneath, in a physical expression of the power of community and love.

This marks the 11th anniversary of the Times Square Valentine Heart Design Competition, an annual event where Times Square Arts invites architecture and design firms to submit proposals for a public art installation celebrating Love in Times Square in February.

Other invited finalists for the 2019 Times Square Valentine Heart Design included: Agency—Agency, Buro Koray Duman, Isometric Studio, N H D M / Nahyun Hwang and David Eugin Moon, Only If Architecture, Splice Design, and STUDIO 397.

“I founded Reddymade as a diverse architecture and design practice, with a human-centric approach,” said Reddy. “In a time of rising xenophobia and division in communities, I was inspired by the thoughtful brief to make an installation that is not only beautiful but is relevant to its context and communicates a message. Exploring the idea of community as a place of intersection led me to the tectonic expression of ‘X,’ which fit the context of Times Square, one of the most thriving intersections in the world of people, place and culture.”

Tim Tompkins, President of the Times Square Alliance, said “Times Square is known as the Crossroads of the World for the x-like intersection of 7^th Ave and Broadway, but also for its role as a place where people from all around the world can cross paths, situated at the intersection of art and commerce. Reddymade’s ‘X’ calls upon those multiple layers of meaning, creating a design that feels perfectly Times Square.”

“We are excited to collaborate with Times Square Alliance to recognize design talent via the annual Times Square Valentine Heart Design Competition,” said Benjamin Prosky, Executive Director of AIA New York / Center for Architecture, who worked with Times Square Alliance to frame the competition brief and identify a short list of competing design firms. “As a new addition to the program, this year we are pleased to showcase the eight design firms and their proposals during a public event and subsequent exhibition at the Center for Architecture. We look forward to the unveiling of Reddymade’s ‘X,’ and congratulate all the participants for their creative approaches.”

The proposals for the 2019 Valentine Heart Design Competition were reviewed by representatives from the Valentine Heart Selection Committee and Sean Anderson, Associate Curator, Department of Architecture and Design, MoMA; Barry Bergdoll, Board President, Center for Architecture and Professor, Columbia University; Wendy Feuer, Assistant Commissioner Urban Design + Art + Wayfinding, NYC Department of Transportation; Ibrahim Greenidge, BOLT Architecture / President, NYCOBA; Kendal Henry, Director, Percent for Art; Jennifer Lantzas, Deputy Director of Public Art, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation; Andrea Lipps, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Design, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; Nadine Maleh, Executive Director, Institute for Public Architecture; Bradley Samuels, Partner, SITU Studio; Hayes Slade, Slade Architecture / 2019 President, AIA New York; Bryan Young, AIA, Principal, Young Projects; Tim Tompkins; President, Times Square Alliance; Benjamin Prosky, Executive Director, AIA New York | Center for Architecture; Michelle Delk, Partner, Discipline Director, Snøhetta; Andrew Dinwiddie, Acting Director of Public Art, Times Square Alliance.

Previous winners of the Times Square Valentine Heart Design include: Aranda/Lasch + Marcelo Coelho (2018); The Office for Creative Research (2017); Collective-LOK (2016); Stereotank(2015); Young Projects (2014); Situ Studio (2013); BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) (2012); Freecell (2011); Moorhead & Moorhead (2010); and Gage / Clemenceau Architects (2009).

Visitors can follow the conversation on social media using #HeartTSq. More information about the project is available at tsq.org/x.

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Times Square Arts, the public art program of the Times Square Alliance, collaborates with contemporary artists and cultural institutions to experiment and engage with one of the world's most iconic urban places. Through the Square's electronic billboards, public plazas, vacant areas and popular venues, and the Alliance's own online landscape, Times Square Arts invites leading contemporary creators to help the public see Times Square in new ways. Times Square has always been a place of risk, innovation and creativity, and the Arts Program ensures these qualities remain central to the district's unique identity. Generous support of Times Square Arts is provided in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Visit www.timessquarenyc.org/arts for more information. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @TSqArts.

AIA New York

AIA New York is the oldest and largest chapter of the American Institute of Architects with more than 5,500 architect, allied professional, student, and public members. AIANY is dedicated to three goals: design excellence, public outreach and professional development. www.aiany.org. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @centerforarch.

Suchi Reddy | Reddymade

Architect Suchi Reddy founded Reddymade, her diverse architecture & design practice, with a human-centric approach to design, one that assesses the economic, social, environmental and cultural impacts of her work on both people and planet. Since 2002, working from her home country of India to her home base in New York city, with projects in Miami and Los Angeles, Suchi charts a course for all things Reddymade with a culturally-specific, globally-curious eye.

Recently completed projects include a residential project designed in collaboration with artist and social activist Ai Weiwei in upstate New York, and a pre-fab modular home in Beverly Hills designed with LivingHomes, which has won a Los Angeles Building Council award and an Architizer A+ Jury and Popular Choice awards. In July 2017, Reddymade created its first large scale public installation, a community engagement project in Prospect Park, covering 2.5 acres of the Rose Garden, collaborating with creative agency AREA4 to celebrate the park’s 150th anniversary. This project has won an NYCxDesign Award, AIA Brooklyn + Queens Award and AIA New York State Excelsior Award.

Current areas of research involve studies in the field of neuroesthetics, including a sensory healing room designed to measure the effects of space and sensory input on patients suffering from disorders of consciousness for the Arts + Mind Lab at the Brain Sciences Institute of Johns Hopkins University.

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Media Contacts:

For Times Square Arts:
TJ Witham
212.452.5234 |  tjwitham@timessquarenyc.org

For AIA New York:
Camila Schaulsohn
212.358.6114 |  cschaulsohn@aiany.org

For Reddymade:
Dale Laplace
646.912.8022 | dale@hundredstoriespr.com