Religious Arts Award
Perkins Eastman Architects DPC
New York, New York
Friends Seminary K-12 School shares a site and programs with the New York Quarterly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. This project included additions to school buildings and construction of the Skyspace, which contains an aperture that opens to the sky. A programmed light show washes the walls and ceiling, changing the perceived color of the sky and interacting with the natural changes in the sky at dawn and dusk.
The Skyspace challenges our understanding of light and space. For Quakers greeting the light, understanding that the perceived color of the sky is an individual perception rather than a fact embodies the Quaker doctrine of guidance from an inner light.
The design involved close collaboration between architect and artist. To support year-round use, a retractable roof with a cast fiberglass dome was designed to cover the aperture. The completed Skyspace is integrated into the curriculum and activities of the school and serves both as a place of contemplation and meditation and as an active arts and collaboration space. It is open for visits from children in neighboring city schools and from the community at large.
Jury Comments
This space that makes us see light in a new way, creating a sense of awe and wonder in the presence of the sky. It is transcendent in the tradition of great
spirituality.
Project Team Members
Frances Halsband FAIA / Principal-in-Charge
Nick Wan AIA / Project Manager
Project Consultants
James Turell Art Installation
Silman Structural
Jaffe Holden Acoustics
William Vitacco Associates Code Consultant
Steven Winter Associates Sustainability
Photo Credit / John Galayda
