This week COSMO begun its venture to filter more than 42,000 gallons of New York City water during the course of MoMA PS1's Summer Warm Up series. The 16th installation built as part of the annual Young Architect's Program (YAP), COSMO is a portable water purifier designed by Andrés Jaque / Office for Political Innovation to combat the world's clean water crisis while serving an animated backdrop to PS1's party atmosphere.
An interview with Jaque, after the break.
Going beyond YAP's requirement to provide shade for its Summer visitors, COSMO combines play with politics in a way that sparks awareness and illustrates just how infrastructure can benefit from architecture.
“Leisure is an opportunity for architecture; leisure is not disengagement, but a celebration that can also engage people with politics,” Jaque told the New York Times. “COSMO is a way to make very public and transparent what I think is most interesting about architecture right now. It was really beautiful to empower the possibility of water projects, so we can reach more people and therefore become something of a political tool.”
COSMO is on view through September 7 at MoMA PS1. Follow its progress on the COSMO app, get COSMO DIY instructions, and learn more at cosmomomaps1.com.
MoMA PS1 YAP 2015 - COSMO / Andrés Jaque / Office for Political Innovation
