YAP 10th Anniversary Review is a visual chronicle of P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and The Museum of Modern Art's Young Architects Program, one of the most acclaimed architectural arenas for emerging talent of the last decade. Born from a unique disciplinary and generational collaboration, the first projects included a pavilion designed by the Austrian artist collective Gelitin and an untitled project by one of the most influential American architects, Philip Johnson. From this unprecedented pairing, YAP has become a rare public forum for exhibition of architectural invention fueled by the exuberance of young architects.
Since its inception, YAP has always been linked with P.S.1's live music and DJ series WarmUp. Both programs have grown into much-anticipated summer events merging together to offer a simultaneous experimental experience. Each year a group of nominators is solicited to put forth the names of young architectural talent. From this group of approximately forty candidates, five competitors are invited to propose temporary installations for P.S.1's distinctive walled courtyard. The winning team each year, selected by a jury of P.S.1 and MoMA curators and staff, always incorporate required elements of shade, water and seating robust enough to withstand a 3-5 month exhibition cycle and thousands of P.S.1 visitors.
This anniversary exhibition is arranged as a timeline, beginning with Gelitin's Percutaneous Delights, moving through the two years of pre-YAP Warm Up parties and the ten years of YAP to date, including all of the winning projects, as well as proposals from 38 finalists. It is a snapshot of more than a decade of architectural experimentation.
YAP 10th Anniversary Review is organized by Christopher Barley and Troy Conrad Therrien, recent graduates of Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation with curatorial advice from Klaus Biesenbach, Chief Curator, Department of Media and Performance Art, The Museum of Modern Art and Chief Curatorial Advisor, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and Barry Bergdoll, The Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern Art.