Architects often search for the poetic amidst the pragmatic, or attempt to overlay meaning upon that which may not deserve any. Too often designers struggle to make something more than it is (we are not excluded, of course - after all we want to believe that what we do matters).  A trip to Queens yesterday yielded an idiosyncratic moment, an experience of effortless emotion, of sheer joy, directly attributable to architecture.

PS1's "Pole Dance" installation, by Dumbo's SO-IL, was the catalyst.  Though quiet on a gray Sunday afternoon, the courtyard at PS1 was 90% smiling, with only two people looking self-serious (perhaps there was a break-up going on, or a discussion of Derridean non-certainty sparked by colorful beach balls). Our kids loved it, but they were not the only ones.  We adults couldn't stop playing either. It is a rare piece of architecture that actually makes one happy.  Comfortable, sure. Inspired - sometimes.  But happy?  Not always. We imagine that the process of designing and making "Pole Dance" was a hoot, though not as much of a hoot as actually getting to shake, rattle, and roll in it.

Bravo, SO-IL.