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  3. Now on view: COMMON GROUND by Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong

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    Downtown Brooklyn Partnership and Van Alen Institute Unveil Interactive Public Sculpture by Artist Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong in Downtown Brooklyn

    COMMON GROUND creates a colorful, vibrant outdoor gathering space to bring community together

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    Contact: Elisa Smilovitz | 551-486-3273 | elisa@elisasmilovitz.com

    BROOKLYN (March 1, 2023) – Downtown Brooklyn Partnership (DBP) and Van Alen Institute today unveiled a new interactive public art installation: COMMON GROUND, by Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong, with lighting design and programming by Xena Petkanas and Christoph Gisel of Arup. Presented with support from Two Trees Management Co., the installation will be on view from March 1 to May 1, 2023, at The Plaza at 300 Ashland, in the heart of the Brooklyn Cultural District in Downtown Brooklyn.

    The community pavilion is a site-specific, interactive public artwork comprised of a colorful seating landscape and floor motifs that dance across the plaza. Drawing inspiration from the geometry of shrines and sacred spaces and referencing the terraces of the site, this architectural intervention transforms the plaza into an oasis for sitting, socializing and gathering by day and by night. COMMON GROUND creates a bold, joyous space, and offers a playable topography to embrace the here and now. As a community hub, COMMON GROUND aspires to cultivate togetherness and resilience, while encouraging moments of pause, reflection and play.

    During the evening, COMMON GROUND creates a shared synesthetic experience. The pavilion is illuminated with color-changing lighting and sensors that register environmental audio. Light animations shimmer across the sculpture in response to nearby sounds — the movements of passersby, footsteps on the structure, voices, the hum of traffic. These dynamic colored lights blend with the vibrant hues of the topography, playing with our perception of color. Here, COMMON GROUND is a place of joy and light, celebrating inclusion, diversity, and togetherness.

    “With its bold colors and interactive light display, COMMON GROUND transforms one of Downtown Brooklyn’s signature public spaces into a work of art that will engage visitors while also injecting color and life into our streetscape,” said Downtown Brooklyn President Regina Myer. “We are excited to once again partner with Van Alen Institute and Two Trees on a project that invites everyone to pause, reflect, and come together in this unique immersive installation.”

    “Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong’s COMMON GROUND ignites downtown Brooklyn with sound, color, and motion, playfully inviting neighbors and passersby to interact,” said Deborah Marton, Executive Director, Van Alen Institute. “COMMON GROUND’s welcoming presence exemplifies Van Alen Institute’s commitment to inclusive shared joy in public spaces. It’s the perfect spot to welcome in spring, and we thank Downtown Brooklyn Partnership and Two Trees for their partnership in bringing this installation to life.”

    “COMMON GROUND creates this playful interruption on the plaza, one of Downtown Brooklyn’s everyday spaces, to bring a new community pavilion to the area,” said Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong. “By night, it becomes a large-scale instrument of sorts, responding to environmental audio — you’re encouraged to come sit, sing, play, linger and experience the art.”

    Performances are scheduled to activate the space, with the opening night on Wednesday, March 1 at 6 pm featuring the NuTribe Dance Company and Mark Morris Dance Group teaching artists CocoMotion and Luffy with an improvisational performance in the art of Waacking and Krumping.

    The Plaza at 300 Ashland has served as a hub for the arts since its unveiling in 2017, even amid the pandemic. Most recently, it was the site of Soft-Firm’s Drive-Thru art installation. Managed, programmed, and maintained by DBP, the plaza also features a year-round calendar of programming including film screenings, concerts, theater performances, dance and fitness classes, readings, community gatherings, and more — all free and open to the public.

    COMMON GROUND is part of Van Alen Institute’s Public Realm R+D program, intended to surface the work of emerging designers and test new strategies to bring people together in public space.

    COMMON GROUND Performance Lineup:
    • March 1 — NuTribe Dance Company and MMDG teaching artists CocoMotion and Luffy present an improvisational performance in the art of Waacking and Krumping.
    • April 6 — Peniel Guerrier and Kriye Bode will bring Haitian Rara to the plaza with an enchanting performance that calls all to rejoice in the energy of life as a community.
    • April 13 — Dancer, choreographer, and teaching artist Kendra J. Ross will give a glimpse into her latest work in progress.
    • April 20 — Soles of Duende, the all-female multicultural trio, will present a spirited collaboration across disciplines in celebration of Tap, Flamenco and Kathak dance.
    • April 22 — Pratt Institute’s fashion department will close out their academic year with JUNIOR THESIS, a fashion performance featuring selected works.

    Visiting COMMON GROUND:
    The installation in on view daily, with interactive lighting displayed from 5 pm–12 am. The Plaza at 300 Ashland is located at the intersection of Lafayette and Flatbush Avenues, a short walk from the B, Q, 2/3, and 4/5 subway lines at Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center, the G train at Fulton St, and the C train at Lafayette Ave., as well as numerous bus lines. There is also paid parking close by.

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    About Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong
    Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong is a New York-based artist and trained architect working at the intersection of art, architecture and the public realm. Wong’s work investigates the transformation of space over time and seeks to challenge social and political boundaries through sculpture, installation, performance, and site-specific architectural interventions. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Cheryl received her B.A. in Art and Italian at the University of California at Berkeley, studied sculpture at Brera Academy in Milan, Italy and earned her Master of Architecture from Columbia University GSAPP. She has completed public art commissions with various institutions to activate underused public spaces, including: New York State Thruway Authority, New York City Parks, Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, City of Calgary, City of Inglewood and Washington DC Public Schools.

    About Downtown Brooklyn Partnership:
    The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership is a not-for-profit local development corporation that serves as the primary champion for Downtown Brooklyn as a world-class business, cultural, educational, residential, and retail destination. Managing three Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) that cover Downtown Brooklyn — the MetroTech BID, Fulton Mall Improvement Association, and Court-Livingston-Schermerhorn BID — the Partnership’s diverse activities include attracting new businesses and improving the environment for existing companies, facilitating the construction of public spaces and streetscapes that promote an active and cohesive community, supporting and promoting Downtown Brooklyn’s cultural assets, and encouraging a sense of place and an engaged civic community.

    About Van Alen Institute:
    Van Alen Institute helps create equitable cities through community-led inclusive design. In an equitable city, communities are engaged in the conception and creation of their built environment, regardless of income or personal circumstances. Community-driven decision-making builds resilience, social infrastructure, and ultimately, more just cities. For 129 years, our purposeful community engagement, convening capacity, and global network have produced profound transformations in the public realm of New York City and beyond. With an interdisciplinary approach to design, the Van Alen team has backgrounds in architecture, arts and culture, community organizing, preservation, and public policy.

    About The Plaza at 300 Ashland:
    The Plaza at 300 Ashland sits at the heart of the Brooklyn Cultural District, adjacent to the brownstone Brooklyn neighborhoods of Fort Greene, Boerum Hill, and Park Slope. Managed, programmed, and maintained by DBP, the public plaza features a robust calendar of events presented in partnership with premier Brooklyn arts organizations such as BAM, BRIC, Brooklyn Public Library, Mark Morris Dance Group, MoCADA, 651 Arts, and Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA), offering free, high-quality programming for everyone. With ample stepped seating, bistro tables and chairs, and capacity for 2,000, the 15,000-sf plaza has regularly hosted large-scale festivals, markets, and community events since its opening in 2017. Programming at The Plaza at 300 Ashland is made possible by support from Two Trees Management Co.

  4. Future Expansion

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    Future Expansion was founded on the belief that the future provides us with the opportunity to constantly improve on the past, that previous solutions should not preclude new inventions, and that architecture and urban design are meaningful cultural tools in this endeavor.

  5. Ifeoma Ebo

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    Ifeoma is an experienced Urban Designer & Strategist with a proven track record in transforming public spaces into platforms for equity and design excellence. In her twenty year career she has led projects in architecture, urban revitalization, community / large scale masterplanning, infrastructure upgrading, urban policy and neighborhood development. Through leadership roles in urban design & development initiatives funded by the United Nations, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the NYC Mayors Office she has excelled in managing multidisciplinary teams towards the planning, design and implementation of projects supporting racial, social and cultural equity. As the founding Director of Creative Urban Alchemy LLC she is a highly sought after consultant for city governments and civic institutions on community design, regenerative placemaking and the equitable transformation of urban space.

  6. MODU

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    MODU aims to elevate the urban experience, linking people to their communities and neighborhoods to cities. Our idea of a new sustainability reimagines cities and buildings that foster new— at times physically distant— forms of being social while reducing our environmental impact. The social and environmental realms are intertwined.

  7. Peterson Rich Office

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    Peterson Rich Office is an interdisciplinary design studio specializing in cultural and residential work. Founded in 2012 by Miriam Peterson and Nathan Rich, Peterson Rich Office was awarded the ‘New Practice New York’ prize by the American Institute of Architects and was named to the 2018 ‘Design Vanguard’ by Architectural Record. Most recently, the firm was named a 2020 Emerging Voice by The Architectural League. Peterson Rich Office is currently working on cultural, residential, and commercial projects in New York, Connecticut, Michigan, Washington, and California.e engagement.

  8. Office III

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    Office III is the architecture and design collective of Sean Canty, Stephanie Lin, and Ryan Golenberg. We are a practice composed of educators and designers based in New York, Cambridge, and San Francisco. Over the years we have valued a productive feedback between the collaborative model of OIII and our individual practices. The nature of these conversations have deeply informed the way we design spaces for collective engagement.

  9. N H D M

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    N H D M is a New York-based practice for design and research in architecture and urbanism, founded by its partners Nahyun Hwang and David Eugin Moon. The studio pursues an expanded practice of architecture and works across disciplinary borders engaging a wide range of scales and diverse modes of practice, from built design work to speculative projects and research. Each project uniquely investigating underexplored spatial concepts in the context of the cultural, political, and economic complexities of the contemporary built environment, the work aims to be introspective and analytic yet anticipatory.

    N H D M recently completed a 12,000 sf renovation of Nam June Paik Art Center, and the current projects include an 18,000 sf museum in Manhattan and a 7-story co-living prototype for marginalized youth combined with municipal educational institutions. The work of N H D M has been recognized through numerous publications and awards including 2020 Architectural Record Design Vanguard Award, 2019 Domus 100+ Best Architects, the 2018 AIANY New Practices New York award, the 2012, 2014, and 2018 AIANY Design Honor Awards, the I.D. Annual Design Review Design Distinction, and has been exhibited and presented at global venues including 2021 Venice Biennale (forthcoming), 2019 Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, the 5th and 6th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, and the 14th International Architecture Exhibition at 2014 Venice Biennale, the Storefront for Art and Architecture, the Center for Architecture New York, UMMA Stenn Gallery, and the Hartell Gallery among others. N H D M’s work has been supported by the Graham Foundation Grant and New York State Council of Art Grant.

  10. BRANDT : HAFERD

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    BRANDT : HAFERD is a Harlem-based architecture and design studio. Their body of work includes academic research and a range of built projects – from the domestic to the workplace to the urban. Performance and Play, Abstract vs. Built Form, Nature and Territory, and the Individual vs. Collective are some of the interests explored in the practice.

    Haferd has worked in the offices of OMA/Rem Koolhaas and Bernard Tschumi Architects. He teaches at Columbia GSAPP and has taught at CCNY, Barnard, NJIT and Pratt Institute.

    Knapp has worked in the offices of Joeb Moore & Partners, and Richard Meier & Partners. She has taught at Columbia GSAPP, PennDesign, Barnard, NJIT and Pratt Institute.

    Trained architectural professionals with licensure in New York State; the studio has been exploring how interests in public space can operate at multiple scales through experimental projects since 2012. Haferd and Knapp were winners of the inaugural 2012 Folly competition held by the Architectural League of New York. Their work has been exhibited at various institutions including Storefront for Art & Architecture and AIA New York. The office has recently been awarded the grand prize in the ZeroThreshold competition with their accesible housing entry, “Side by Side”.