Rest assured: LOT’s Flatiron installation encourages New Yorkers to relax

LOT’s installation ‘Flatiron Sky-Line’ has won the annual Flatiron Public Plaza Holiday Design Competition to be installed in New York during the holiday season. LOT’s first large-scale public installation in New York City will be an arched design which welcomes in passersby to relax in hammocks, look up and enjoy some of New York’s early 20th century skyscrapers including the Flatiron building, the Woolwich building and Met Life Tower.
Running for the third time, the competition hosted by The Flatiron Partnership and the Van Alen Institute invites a temporary installation to the Flatiron district to serve as a hub for a programme of public events over the winter months. A jury of design and public art professionals selected LOT’s proposal from five competition entries, including New York studios Architensions; Büro Koray Duman Architects; Freeland Buck; and Young & Ayata.
Led by the principles of simplicity and an interest in the Flatiron skyline, LOT, directed by Eleni Petaloti and Leonidas Trampoukis, designed the installation to change people’s viewpoint of the city. The bright arches of the structure are made from white powder-coated steel tubes illuminated with LED lights, which hold hammocks underneath their eaves. The social sculpture encourages New Yorkers to recharge and engage with the eminent architecture of the Flatiron district.
Located at the North Flatiron Public Plaza at Broadway, Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street, ‘Flatiron Sky-Line’ will be installed from 21 November, breaking the busy pace of the streets for the holiday season.
Located at the North Flatiron Public Plaza, LOT's winning proposal will be installed from 21 November
Visitors will be able look up and enjoy some of the city's early 20th century skyscrapers
LOT pipped four other New York studios to scoop the commission, including Freeland Buck, which submitted this 'Vanishing Point' entry
'Radiant Forest', by Architensions, was another potential proposal for the public plaza
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the LOT website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Harriet Thorpe is a writer, journalist and editor covering architecture, design and culture, with particular interest in sustainability, 20th-century architecture and community. After studying History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Journalism at City University in London, she developed her interest in architecture working at Wallpaper* magazine and today contributes to Wallpaper*, The World of Interiors and Icon magazine, amongst other titles. She is author of The Sustainable City (2022, Hoxton Mini Press), a book about sustainable architecture in London, and the Modern Cambridge Map (2023, Blue Crow Media), a map of 20th-century architecture in Cambridge, the city where she grew up.
-
This surreal new seafood restaurant in LA is the stuff of mermaid's dreams
At Cento Raw Bar, delectable fare is complemented by playful, oceanic interiors by Brandon Miradi
-
What’s new in the wearable world of smart glasses, and extended and augmented reality
Are you ready for AR? Meta, Google, Snap and more are gearing up to compete with Apple and deliver frames-based communications devices – complete with AI integration
-
Italian-Japanese fusion’s a joy at east London’s Osteria Angelina
A Victorian warehouse in Spitalfields has been given a slick modern makeover to house a unique Italian-Japanese restaurant
-
Tour architect Paul Schweikher’s house, a Chicago midcentury masterpiece
Now hidden in the Chicago suburbs, architect Paul Schweikher's former home and studio is an understated midcentury masterpiece; we explore it, revisiting a story from the Wallpaper* archives, first published in April 2009
-
Lego and Serpentine celebrate World Play Day with a new pavilion
Lego and Serpentine have just unveiled their Play Pavilion; a colourful new structure in Kensington Gardens in London and a gesture that celebrates World Play Day (11 June)
-
The world of Bart Prince, where architecture is born from the inside out
For the Albuquerque architect Bart Prince, function trumps form, and all building starts from the inside out; we revisit a profile from the Wallpaper* archive, first published in April 2009
-
Is embracing nature the key to a more fire-resilient Los Angeles? These landscape architects think so
For some, an executive order issued by California governor Gavin Newsom does little to address the complexities of living within an urban-wildland interface
-
Hop on this Fire Island Pines tour, marking Pride Month and the start of the summer
A Fire Island Pines tour through the work of architecture studio BOND is hosted by The American Institute of Architects New York in celebration of Pride Month; join the fun
-
The Serpentine Pavilion 2025 is ready to visit, ‘an exhibition you can use’
The Serpentine Pavilion 2025 is ready for its public opening on 6 June; we toured the structure and spoke to its architect, Marina Tabassum
-
A Laurel Canyon house shows off its midcentury architecture bones
We step inside a refreshed modernist Laurel Canyon house, the family home of Annie Ritz and Daniel Rabin of And And And Studio
-
A refreshed Rockefeller Wing reopens with a bang at The Met in New York
The Met's Michael C Rockefeller Wing gets a refresh by Kulapat Yantrasast's WHY Architecture, bringing light, air and impact to the galleries devoted to arts from Africa, Oceania and the Ancient Americas