New York City has no shortage of storybook locations for a smooch. Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, a corner bodega at 3 a.m.---all perfectly suitable places for a warm embrace. One place that's conspicuously missing from that list: Times Square.
Despite the tourist haven’s recent redesign, most people recoil at the thought of kissing under the glow of the Olive Garden’s neon lights. For many people, the Las Vegas of New York isn’t just unromantic, it’s downright offensive. And yet, starting next month, you may well find yourself caught up in the moment, willing to ditch all romantic pretense for an intimate moment in the heart (wink wink) of Times Square.
Each year, the Times Square Alliance commissions an artist or designer to create a pavilion of sorts in the middle of Times Square to celebrate America’s favorite romantic holiday. This year, it gave the nod to NYC architecture studio Collective-LOK. Its installation is going up in the middle of it all on February 9.
CLOK, led by architects Jon Lott, William O'Brien Jr, and Michael Kubo, designed a clever ode to love, consisting of nine heart-shaped, mirrored structures that when placed in a circle form a gleaming, kaleidoscopic refuge of intimacy. The architects say the goal of Heart of Hearts was to create a space---not an object---that would both shelter visitors from and connect them to Times Square’s sensory overload. “We asked, how could we create a room within the room of Times Square?” Lott says.
Their clever solution consists of 10-foot-tall pairs of “paper hearts” (they're aluminum) that form a faceted ring. From the outside, the golden hearts reflect the bright lights of the city; from the inside of the ring, visitors will see themselves reflected. Each pair of hearts doubles as a kissing booth that visitors can pop inside of to get a moment of solitude. They aren't totally enclosed---the designers don't want people getting too intimate---but provide a moment's respite from the hustle and bustle of what is surely one of the city's busiest neighborhoods. “You feel totally removed from Times Square,” O'Brien says. “All that’s left is a framed view of the sky.”
Sounds romantic enough. Just don’t count on seeing any stars.
