FILTER | CLB Architects

Originally created for the 2022 NYCxDESIGN Festival, FILTER is a nomadic pavilion and public artwork installed alternately between sites in the Rocky Mountain West and New York City. The 24-foot diameter, 20-foot-tall ellipsoid structure is comprised of vertical steel fins arranged around a platform and seating made of reclaimed wood. At the center, a live tree stands tall and anchors the space. Marking the return of New York City’s annual NYCxDESIGN Festival post-pandemic, FILTER’s first life was as a public pavilion in Times Square. In this context, FILTER established a new node of respite in the heart of the city.

In 2023, FILTER was transported back to Sheridan, Wyoming and re-erected in a public park adjacent to the manufacturing facility where its parts were originally fabricated. Here, the pavilion offers a similar opportunity for repose and reflection, while activating the park and showcasing the company’s craft capabilities, providing a destination for the community along a set of newly incorporated public trails.

Transportable Design

FILTER was conceived with sustainability and longevity top of mind. Each piece of the pavilion is demountable and transportable, allowing FILTER to travel from New York to Wyoming. Because the structure is systematized and structurally self-supporting, there is no need for a foundation, making it transportable and light on the land.

A Simple Diagram

FILTER’s structural concept began as a simple diagram: a folded sheet of paper, carefully sliced, and able to stand on its own. The team then translated this exercise into a full-scale pavilion through a design composed of 30 standard-sized, half-inch hot-rolled steel plates, or “fins,” arranged in an ellipsoid.

Collaboration

Born of a collaboration with Sheridan, Wyoming-based EMIT who fabricated the steel fins and a British Columbia timberworks company who donated Glulam beam offcuts of fir and larch for the interior platform and seating, the final form is composed of 175 pieces of wood and steel linked together by 2,500 fasteners.