Young Architects Program International

KDLAB was a finalist in the 2002 edition of YAP. The firm is no longer in operation as both partners have moved on to other ventures: Dean di Simone is now the principal of TENDER and Joseph Kosinski is a director in Hollywood.

Q&A with KDLAB

MoMA PS1: How did you position yourself to get nominated?
Dean di Simone, TENDER: Coming out of the Graduate School of Architecture at Columbia, my partner and I were interested in finding ways to incorporate various forms of media into an architectural context. As such, we were experimenting with a series of 3D, animation, and interactive software packages to simulate built space. The results were a series of short-films and interactive installations that garnered attention everywhere from architectural periodicals to film festivals, all championing not only the narrative component but also the architecture that housed each of the pieces.

MoMA PS1: Did YAP change anything for you or your firm? When did you recognize the full potential of the competition?
Dean di Simone: YAP allowed us to consider what it means to design a multi-sensory experience through various formal and programmatic means. MoMA PS1's summer WarmUp provided the unique challenge of framing an event that included sound, water, shade, socializing, meditation, commerce, and art, and previewed what would ultimately manifest as a strength in our practice—the synthesizing of experiential components to brand-build for our clients. Since our entry, my partner and I have successfully used the experience to launch into respectively successful careers in brand strategy and film direction.

MoMA PS1: How was your design shaped by the history of YAP?
Dean di Simone: The history of YAP was brief when we were selected, but we were fortunate to have seen SHoP successfully build a program that was appropriated in unimaginable ways during its tenure. It was through this fantastic framing of the context of WarmUp that we learned how much more architecture and design had to offer than what may be initially perceived in a series of visuals and drawings.