Z-A Studio

KISS Popup Chapel

Manhattan, New York

2011

To celebrate the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York state, social networking hub Architizer and wedding-planning website TheKnot.com sponsored a competition to create a temporary chapel to be installed in Central Park on July 30, 2011, for wedding ceremonies to be conducted all day. Z-A Studio’s winning KISS Popup Chapel was designed to be easily transported and assembled, with two curving walls made of layered honeycombed cardboard joined to create a playful vault. Architect Guy Zucker describes KISS as an allegory for marriage, “two separate parts, made of the same DNA but layered differently,” cardboard joined to create “a stable entity that is more than the sum of its parts” – an allegory for marriage. Twenty-four couples were married in the chapel.

Accessibility, Community, Economy, Pleasure, Sustainability
4,000
2 days design + 3 days fabrication + 2 hours assembly
5 fabrication + 15 installation
Problem - need for public wedding venue that is buildable with little money or time
Solution - free, highly public, modular pop-up pavilion