‘Pole Dance’ rendering from SO-IL for PS 1 courtyard, Long Island City – Photo

2009 whizzed by in a flash, and another summer in Long Island City will be here before we know it – at least that’s what we keep telling ourselves. Thankfully, PS 1 and its Young Architects Program once again give us something to look forward to: the annual summer installation in their courtyard, the setting of their storied Warm-Up parties.

This year, the winners of the coveted courtyard crown is Brooklyn architecture firm SO-IL. Their entry is called ‘Pole Dance,’ and although it seems oddly apropos given all the strip club drama in the hood lately, it’s actually “a metaphor for these uncertain times.” Interestingly, SO-IL’s pavilion is also “more pliant than anything yet staged” in PS 1’s courtyard, and the most expansive as well »

Tranquil ground floor gallery at Noguchi Museum, Long Island City

As we round out the end of 2009, we decided to bump around the neighborhood and check out the current exhibitions of three of Long Island City’s legendary – and very different – art institutions: the zen/industrial aesthetic of the Noguchi Museum, the spacious waterfront warehouse that is Deitch Studios, and, of course, the school turned modern art repository, PS 1 Contemporary Art Center. Here’s what’s going on »