A Public Art Installation Inviting Love, Wonder and Delight in the Heart of Times Square this February
Photo courtesy of Almost Studio.
(NEW YORK, NY — January 12, 2022) — Times Square Arts is pleased to announce Almost Studio as the winner of the 15th annual Love & Design Competition. For the month of February and with the support of presenting sponsor, Minted Weddings, Almost Studio will debut Love’s h|Edge, a public sculpture in the heart of Times Square built from a playful configuration of four heart-shaped hedge rows that invite visitors on their own journeys of love and discovery.
To coincide with the installation’s run, Times Square Arts will hold a fresh-cut rose giveaway daily at 1pm EST on Duffy Square, featuring handouts by Times Square ambassadors, local New Yorkers, and celebrity guests. Love’s h/Edge is made possible by presenting sponsor Minted Weddings, a premium design goods marketplace.
STATEMENT BY ALMOST STUDIO’S DORIAN BOOTH AND ANTHONY V. GAGLIARDI:
““All will be clear in the fullness of time…” - Alice Through the Looking Glass / 2016
Like a daydream, and just for just a moment – forget your troubles, your stress, your to-do’s, and where you are going. Love’s h|Hedge is meant to be a pause, a momentary illusion, in your day, in your week, and in your life. Planting an artificial garden within Times Square is meant to be a jolt from our routines. It is meant to draw from the history of landscape design, public theater, and Surrealism to take us out of our everyday and instead offer a garden island of wonders, what-ifs, and some-days. It is a place of reflection and reformation. It is a place to look at yourself and others anew.
Just as love has no edges, no boundaries - we have an expansive sense of gratitude for being selected for the 15th Annual Love & Design Competition in Times Square, and are deeply honored to have been considered alongside teams we admire so highly, and we are especially thankful to Eli Liebenow and Isabella Calidonio for being who they are – which is kind, thoughtful, and supremely talented teammates.
This competition means a lot to us. We’re thankful to The Times Square Alliance for the creation and continuation of such a joyful initiative. Everyone needs this type of program right about now – and we are very excited to share Love’s h|Edge with the people of New York City. The thought that this playful family of hedges will potentially make a few people’s days better, create a lasting memory in someone’s life, or allow two people to meet who have never met before – gives us a lot of joy.”
This marks the 15th anniversary of the Times Square Love & Design Competition, which invites architecture and design firms to submit proposals for a public art installation that celebrates and communicates love throughout the month of February. Situated in front of the Red Steps each year, the competition continues Times Square’s dedication to celebrating great design — a commitment exemplified by the Red Steps themselves, which have won multiple architecture awards.
“For 15 years Times Square’s Love and Design program has celebrated talented architects and designers taking on the theme of love in unique and innovative ways, and Almost Studio continues this tradition while creating something completely distinct from any of the works that came before it. Love’s h|Edge is the perfect encapsulation of love for Times Square - an endlessly engaging and evolving design that leverages illusion and theatricality to set a public stage for personal exploration and discovery,” said Times Square Arts Director Jean Cooney.
“Minted and the Times Square Alliance share a mission of championing the work of independent artists and we are proud to partner together on the 2023 Love in Times Square program,” said Marissa Cedarleaf, GM of Weddings for design marketplace Minted. “This year’s winning sculpture by Almost Studios beautifully recognizes love of all kinds through an imaginative and inclusive lens, two tenets that are core to our design ethos. At Minted, we have the privilege of celebrating love daily and are honored to play a part in celebrations with fresh wedding stationery designs that stand the test of time. We’re excited to bring that celebration of love to new audiences with Love’s h/Edge.
Through its design, Love’s h|Edge celebrates the limitless human capacity to love. The work, composed of a family of four heart-shaped hedge rows, invites visitors to journey through their own path of love and discovery. Drawing upon Times Square’s history of performance and the theatricality of landscape design, the maze-like installation becomes a stage for exploration, and a frame for performance, play, and chance encounters. The heart-shaped interior spaces featuring illuminated benches and vertical trellises — endearingly called “Pitter-Patios'' — are intended for pause, reflection, and commemorating love.
Much like Times Square, Love’s h|Edge is a dynamic, multi-sensory experience that will evolve over the course of the month. Each day, visitors will be invited to “Fill Up the Heart,” by adding fresh roses to the trellises of the installation’s Pitter-Patios. Over the span of 28 days, the artificial hedge rows will appear to blossom, as the roses accumulate. The interiority of the hedge rows are also outfitted with programmed lighting design and audio speakers expanding the ways in which the public can engage with the work.
Generated from ADA-accessible building code dimensions, the technical dimensions of the spaces in Love’s h|Edge are intended to be fundamentally inclusive and embody the spirit of expansive compassion. The work also holds a multitude of opportunities for sensory engagement - from the scent of the roses, texture of the hedges, glow of illumination, and soft soundscape from hidden speakers, Love’s h|Edge mirrors the breadth of possibilities for sharing and experiencing love.
On Valentine’s Day, New Yorkers and visitors looking for love can find an abundance of romance at the Crossroads of the World. Real life love stories will unfold in form of surprise proposals, wedding ceremonies, and vow renewals - all framed by Love’s h|Edge by Almost Studio, the 15th annual Love and Design Competition winner. Each year, lovers surprise their partners with marriage proposals under Times Square’s iconic American Eagle sign; couples tie the knot on Duffy Square; and New Yorkers renew their vows on the Red Steps. This year, Love in Times Square is proudly presented by the Times Square Alliance and Minted Weddings, the mission-driven design marketplace. For more information on the February 14th events and how to participate, head to www.TSQ.org/Love
“Every February, we get to celebrate love - a simple yet invaluable sentiment that underpins and uplifts all that we do here in Times Square – and invite New Yorkers and visitors to gather with one another and enjoy the cultural and commercial offerings that make this district so unique, vibrant, and unforgettable,” said Tom Harris, President of Times Square Alliance
For fifteen years, Times Square Arts has hosted this design competition to celebrate the work of innovative, emerging architecture and design firms, and speak to themes of love during the month of February in Times Square. The finalists for this year’s competition included: Architensions, Future Projects, Limbo Accra x Alaska Alaska, Office of Things, and Yeju & Chat. The jury selected Almost Studio as the winner of the 2023 Love & Design competition.
2023 LOVE & DESIGN COMPETITION JURORS:
- Stephen Cassell, FAIA, Principal, Architecture Research Office
- Carson Chan, Director of Emilio Ambasz Institute for the Joint Study of the Built and the Natural Environment, MoMA
- Wendy Feuer, Former Assistant Commissioner Urban Design + Art + Wayfinding, NYC Department of Transportation
- Kendal Henry, Assistant Commissioner, Public Art, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs
- Fauzia Khanani, Founder & Principal, Studio Fōr
- Nina Marren, Senior Program Manager, NYC Department of Transportation Art Program
- Elizabeth Masella, Senior Public Art Coordinator, NYC Parks & Recreation
- ADA Accessibility Consultant (Non-voting): Christina Curry, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities
PARTNERS AND SPONSORSHIP
Love’s h/Edge is made possible by presenting sponsor Minted Weddings, a premium design goods marketplace.
A special thank you to Elise Jaffe + Jeffrey Brown for their generous support. Funding for Love’s h|Edge is also provided in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Fabrication of Love’s h|Edge is by Arcana. Structural engineering services provided by Silman.
ABOUT ALMOST STUDIO
Almost Studio is a Brooklyn-based design practice established in 2018. Their unique approach considers a successful project as never complete and always becoming: exposing unknown cultural, social, and spatial potential as time passes. In that sense, the process of design and the close-out of construction is simply the starting point of their projects. Focused on process rather than style or typology, Almost Studio challenges commonly held beliefs, conventions, and canons at all project scales. This has led to recognition and publication of many projects including exhibitions, castles, installations, urban design, furniture, fashion runways, residences, storefronts and art festivals. Current and past projects include work with the Ragdale Foundation, Yale University, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Chloé, Sandy Liang, ArtPrize, Dallas Contemporary, New York Fashion Week, and private residences in New York, Ohio, California, Maine, and Villecien, France.
ABOUT TIMES SQUARE ARTS
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, such as Charles Gaines, Joan Jonas, Jeffrey Gibson, Pamela Council, Mel Chin and Kehinde Wiley, to help the public see Times Square in new ways. Times Square has always been a cultural district and place of risk, innovation and creativity, and the arts program ensures these qualities remain central to the district's unique identity.
ABOUT MINTED
Minted is a premium goods marketplace, committed to discovering and fostering the world’s untapped creative talent and bringing it to market. The company’s wedding, art, stationery, and home furnishings products have reached more than 75 million homes worldwide. Using Minted’s crowdsourcing technology, consumers are empowered to vote for the designs they love and want to see sold, ensuring that Minted continuously sells fresh and trend-forward products. The winning designs are manufactured by Minted, enabling artists from around the world to sell their work while letting Minted do the rest. Since launching in 2007, the company has expanded to serve consumers in new categories including wall art, textiles, digital content, and home furnishings. Minted also builds traditional retail distribution for its independent artist community, partnering with major retailers and consumer products brands. The company has raised more than $300 million from top-tier investors including Benchmark Capital, T. Rowe Price, Permira, Ridge Ventures, Technology Crossover Ventures, and Norwest Venture Partners.
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