designboom · Creativity & design

Plywood Horse Doubles Transform Monument into Public Playground

Studio Deng's "The Flatland Horse" project reinterprets equestrian monuments as eight functional, climbable 'doubles'. These pieces disassemble the traditional statue into individual plywood silhouettes, each representing a body part and serving a public function.

The project separates monumental horse elements into individual plywood forms, each designed to function as a bench, seat, table, gate, slide, mirror, pavilion, or toy. For the Seattle Design Festival, Gate Horse and Slide Horse were exhibited at Lake Union Park.

Gate Horse creates an archway, framing views of the Seattle skyline through the horse's negative space. Slide Horse utilizes a bridge-like structure with a plywood deck spanning leg frames, featuring a lowered head that serves as a slide and a mane as a side barrier.

These installations translate the equine body into flat plywood planes. Selected body parts gain volume through brown chenille stretched over foam core panels, suggesting textures like mane or muscle and providing a softer surface.

Constructed from 13-ply birch plywood, the horse doubles were cut and sanded by the design team. Slide Horse was assembled in three units using nails, bolts, and L-brackets for easy installation.

Following the festival, both structures were disassembled, flat-packed, and reassembled in a new setting in Issaquah, east of Seattle, allowing the temporary installations to have a continued life.

AI-samenvatting op basis van de bron.