A pneumatic canopy hovers beneath the vaulted ceiling, compressing scale and drawing bodies together. What initially appears solid dissolves through movement, revealing brief glimpses of the architecture above and producing a shifting field of reflection responsive to light, motion, and proximity.

Tender was created for the Architectural League of New York’s Beaux Arts Ball in the historic Williamsburgh Savings Bank. The 63-foot-high banking hall, defined by monumental scale and rigid spatial hierarchy, is reframed through compression—transforming grandeur into a more intimate, tactile environment for gathering and exchange.

Suspended above the dance floor, a net filled with mylar balloon “pillows” forms a dense, cloud-like surface that lowers the perceived height of the room while remaining porous. As visitors move beneath it, intentional voids open to the ornate ceiling, heightening the contrast between historic architecture and ephemeral intervention. From the mezzanine, the surface reads as a landscape, offering a second perspective where compression gives way to pattern and variation.

Interaction extends beyond the main floor through a field of hanging tickets, each printed with a graphic time code and an iridescent surface. The tickets grant access to a secondary sound installation in the building’s basement vault, linking spaces through exchange and movement. Below, linked seating elements made from nylon net and shredded paper invite pause and conversation.

Through compression, reflection, and layered interaction, Tender transforms a monumental interior into a social landscape—one where softness, proximity, and exchange reshape architecture into a shared, fleeting experience.