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MOBILE ART CONTAINER by ZAHA HADID in NYC now

New York is the latest city to be lucky enough to house star architect Zaha Hadid’s MOBILE ART-Container, which she realized for CHANEL. The space was opened on 20th October and will close on 9th November. The Big Apple marks the third stop on the art tour, which kicked off in Hong Kong this February, followed by Tokyo. The container will then travel to London and Moscow, and will finally end up in Paris in 2010. The running order speaks for itself.

MOBILE ART presents illustrations by contemporary artists from the USA, Europe, Asia, Russia and Latin America. Each of them was asked to create a piece of art which is rooted in the conflicting area of fashion and art. The specific source of given inspiration was the 2.55 bag by Coco Chanel, which has graced the arms of the rich and beautiful for over 50 years - and has also been sighted as a design object in the occasional museum collection. 

The container in itself is already worth a visit. The architect was explicitly selected for the job by Karl Lagerfeld. London-based Zaha designed an oversized, aspirational, multi-functional handbag. It is made of glistening, white fibreglass and comprises 700 individual pieces, and comes across as a sculpture.
No matter how much larger than life, the bag has to share its jubilee birthday: Central Park has been around for longer and is celebrating its 150th birthday. “New York’s lung” was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, and is visited by about 25 million people a year.

Mobile Art is located on Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield, on the East Side, off Fifth Avenue, just by 69th Street. Visiting the pavilion is free of charge, however there are limited tickets available.

There was of course a party and we have some shots of Karl, Zaha, Helena and friends to prove it. Hercules and Love Affair played – we couldn’t have made a better choice.

Mobile Art
20th October until 9th November 2008
Central park, NYC