Match-Maker Valentines Day Project

Brooklyn-based design studio Young Projects was selected to design the 2014 Valentine Heart, Match-Maker, and to oversee its construction in collaboration with Kammetal.  Over the last six years the Times Square Alliance has invited architecture and design firms to submit proposals for a romantic public art installation celebrating Valentine’s Day in Times Square. For the 2014 competition, Times Square Arts, in collaboration with Van Alen Institute, selected Young Projects' Match-Maker out of six design proposals. The Match-Maker cosmically connects people this Valentine's Day. Guided by their zodiac signs, visitors arrange themselves at twelve viewing points around the heart-shaped sculpture. Peering through colorful, interwoven periscopes provides glimpses of each viewer's four most ideal astrological mates, offering potentially novel connections between lonely souls or settled lovers. The form of the sculpture is elusive, complex and symmetrical, and changes as viewers experience it from different vantage points throughout Times Square. From many points of view it forms a perfect and iconic heart; from other perspectives the sculpture is tangled and perplexing. “I can tell you from personal experience, there is such a thing as love at first sight!  In an era of digital communication, our design takes a decidedly analog approach to viscerally connect strangers and reaffirm compatibility between old partners. We are extremely honored to have been chosen by the jury for the 2014 Valentine Heart and are excited to realize the piece in collaboration with Brooklyn-based fabricator Kammetal." - Bryan Young, Principal of Young Projects Young Projects will also be working with graphic designer Dungjai, lighting consultancy Lighting Workshop, and structural engineers Robert Silman Associates. #LoveTimesSquare