Studio Gang designs ‘Hive’ summer installation at National Building Museum

The National Building Museum’s annual summer installation has become somewhat of a spectacle now.

Last year, the National Building Museum hosted ICEBERGS, an interactive exhibition designed by New York-based James Corner Field Operations, the same designers behind the High Line. For the 2015 summer installation, the museum was host to The BEACH, designed by New York-based firm Snarkitecture. Before this, there has been a maze and even mini golf.

For this summer, the National Building Museum isn’t pulling any punches. Studio Gang, an architecture and urban design practice based in Chicago and New York, plans on presenting “The Hive,” a 60-foot-high installation that will be made up of more than 2,700 wound paper tubes. According to a press release, “the tubes vary in size from several inches to 10 feet high and will be interlocked to create three dynamic interconnected, domed chambers.” The tallest dome will feature an oculus over 10 feet in diameter.

In a statement, Studio Gang founding principal Jeanne Gang said, “When you enter the Great Hall you almost feel like you’re in an outside space because of the distance sound travels before it is reflected back and made audible. We’ve designed a series of chambers shaped by sound that are ideally suited for intimate conversations and gatherings as well as performances and acoustic experimentation. Using wound paper tubes, a common building material with unique sonic properties, and interlocking them to form a catenary dome, we create a hive for these activities, bringing people together to explore and engage the senses.”

Visitors of this installation will be able to visit the museum’s “Late Nights” program, which offers live music every Wednesday as well as food and beverages from Hill Country’s Backyard Barbecue.

If interested in visiting the installation, visitors should buy a ticket at the National Building Museum website. Tickets range from $10 for a Blue Star Military adult to $13 for youth, students with identification, and seniors to $16 for adults. Free passes will be available online on June 13. General admission will be available for advance purchase starting June 20.

The installation will run from July 4 through September 4.

Past projects completed by Studio Gang include the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College in Michigan and the Aqua Tower in Chicago.

• HIVE [National Building Museum]