The site that previously housed Rainbow City Roller Rink is now The Beach Detroit, an interactive art installation in part of the street level lobby of the 1001 Woodward building right across the street from Campus Martius. It’s now open to the public through April 14.
We dropped by for a preview on Thursday and spoke with Alex Mustonen, a partner and co-founder of Snarkitecture, the Brooklyn-based architecture and design firm behind it.
The Beach Detroit takes advantage of what is essentially an open, ground-floor atrium space with soaring windows that look out over Campus Martius and Detroit’s skyline. Bedrock, which owns the building, has been soliciting artists to reimagine the room for public use while it seeks a more long-term tenant for the rather unconventional space.
Snarkitecture, which takes its name in part from a Lewis Carroll poem “The Hunting of the Snark,” installed a platform that slopes down toward the “water,” which is a pit filled with 350,000 white plastic balls. The platform itself is covered by a white synthetic turf surface. There are two runways you can jump off of, plus a submerged island. Inflatable pink flamingos and bomb pops add to the sense of whimsy, and there are reclined white beach loungers that invite a moment to relax, all as you peer out at the city beyond and listen to the sounds reverberate throughout the room.
“The most important thing about the monochromatic is this idea about transforming the everyday,” Mustonen said. “Our everyday world is filled with color, it’s filled with texture, it’s filled with millions of different objects that we’re seeing constantly. We’re interested in creating spaces and experiences that are simplified. We’re taking all that and we’re stripping it away.
“So it’s not about how can we dd things to make it, it’s how can we take away things to make it. So when you com into a spaces like The Beach or any other Snarkitecture project, we’re inviting you to step away from your day to day reality and enter into this environment that’s unlike what you’re experiencing the rest of the time.”
The Beach Detroit is open Wednesday through Sunday through April 14. There’s no charge for admittance, but reserving a ticket is encouraged. Check out our full interview episode of Daily Detroit in the player above.
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