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Dan Graham: The Rooftop Urban Park Project

September 12, 1991–January 11, 2004, Dia Chelsea

Overview

Dan Graham transformed the roof of 548 West 22nd Street into a small-scale urban park for the Chelsea neighborhood. The project was accessible to the public from 1991 until 2004, when Dia's Chelsea exhibition space closed. The project included a large-scale architectural glass pavilion designed by Graham in collaboration with architects Mojdeh Baratloo and Clifton Balch. Constructed from a two-way mirrored glass, the walls of the pavilion shifted between transparent and reflective states as the intensity of light changed, creating changing and complex visual effects with the sky, surrounding landscape, and interactions with people on the roof. The project also encompassed a small shed on the roof which was converted into a cafe/video viewing room. The video program was organized around themes chosen by Graham.

Artist

Dan Graham

Dan Graham was born in Urbana, Illinois, in 1942. He died in New York City in 2022.

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Books

Photo: Don Stahl

Dan Graham: Two-Way Mirror Cylinder Inside Cube and a Video Salon

This video and publication are based on Dan Graham’s Rooftop Urban Park Project, which opened as an extended exhibition at Dia Center for the Arts in 1991.

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Photo: Ethan Harrison

Dan Graham: Two-Way Mirror Cylinder Inside Cube and a Video Salon (video and book)

Based on Dan Graham's Rooftop Urban Park Project, which opened as an extended exhibition at Dia, 548 West 22nd Street on September 12, 1991.

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