reOrder: An Architectural Environment

reOrder is an environment created by Situ Studio to mark the occasion of the reopening of the Brooklyn Museum's Great Hall after a recent renovation. reOrder addresses the ideals of proportion and ornament so central to the original design of the Great Hall, designed by the historic architectural firm McKim, Mead & White in 1893. Employing a new set of ordering principles that challenge the classical architectural order, colossal scale and regularity of the gridded space, reOrder transforms the Hall to better serve the complexities of public programming.

Situ Studio rearticulates the space through the lightweight and flexible language of fabric construction, building on strategies developed in the textile industry for folding and gathering. A system of flexible canopies utilizing some 2,200 yards of fabric, thermoformed benches and tables, and internal plywood and steel armatures create a unique forum for public interaction and assembly within this ever-evolving institution.

The canopies engage the hall's century-old monumental columns as central elements in the design, swelling and augmenting their profiles, and transforming them from base to capital. Situ Studio's installation plays on the unique scale and details of this iconic late nineteenth-century structure with the goal of transforming the hall, creating a series of spaces that alternate between the colossal and the intimate.

Each canopy is covered in Sunbrella® fabric in the style Canvas-Natural, donated by Glen Raven Custom Fabrics. The is folded and then stretched over suspended bent steel tubing and plywood rings, each with a unique radius and different form. The fabric used in reOrder will either be returned to the manufacturing facility for recycling or reused for future projects by Situ Studio once the installation is complete.

The installation also includes benches and tables around each column composed of sheets of LG Hausys HI-MACS® solid surfacing, which were donated by LG Hausys America. The sheets are transformed into three-dimensional benches and tables using a sophisticated and controlled heat process known as thermoforming. This project will be the first installation in the newly renovated Great Hall, which has been completely redesigned by Ennead Architects, formerly known as Polshek Partnership.

Situ Studio was founded in 2005 in Brooklyn, while its five partners were studying architecture at the Cooper Union. Concentrating on research, design, and fabrication, the firm works at the intersection of architecture and a variety of other disciplines to engage a wide range of spatial projects. Recent work includes the design and fabrication of six models for the exhibition Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward, at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Solar Pavilion series, three temporary structures created for the green arts and energy organization Solar One.