Brookfield Properties unveils major installation by artist Huyghe at One Liberty Plaza

Manhattan, NY Brookfield Properties unveiled a major work by acclaimed artist Pierre Huyghe at One Liberty Plaza, a 54-story, 2.3 million s/f, trophy office tower centrally located in the city. The recently reimagined double-height lobby features A::Light, one of Huyghe’s most iconic installations, which transforms the soaring ceiling into a video game. Visible from neighboring Zuccotti Park, A::Light is among one of the most technically and conceptually ambitious artworks realized in a commercial office building. 

“Presenting this important, interactive work by Pierre Huyghe marks a pivotal moment for the next chapter of One Liberty Plaza,” said Alex Liscio, senior vice president, asset management, Brookfield Properties. “The lobby’s redevelopment was envisioned to complement his artwork, underscoring our commitment to activating our properties with dynamic experiences and museum-quality art.” 

A::Light takes as its starting point the first commercially successful video game, Pong, which simulates a game of ping pong as each player controls a paddle that moves across the left or right side of the screen. Huyghe transposes this onto the grid of a drop ceiling, with each ceiling tile corresponding to a pixel on the gameboard and wired controllers inviting visitors to play. As two people engage, the space is transformed: illuminated tiles flash on and off as the paddles move back and forth across the ceiling, bouncing the cursor across the lobby and evoking both the wonder of early video games and a digitized, cybernetic future. 

“It’s particularly fitting that this work has found a home at One Liberty Plaza, given that Pong was released by Atari in 1972, and the building opened in 1973,” said Jacob King, who advised Brookfield Properties on the artwork. “With great cunning, Pierre transforms the gridded drop ceiling – which is so ubiquitous in postwar office buildings – into a site of play, interaction, and wonder.” 

Considered one of the most influential living artists in any medium, Huyghe is recognized for having profoundly expanded the parameters of sculpture, making work that encompasses a variety of materials and disciplines, from cinema to biology to meteorology, incorporating elements as varied as live bee colonies, aquatic ecosystems, and artificial intelligence systems. His work has been featured in countless museum exhibitions across the world. A::Light premiered in 1999 at the Vienna Secession – a landmark of twentieth century architecture with decorative friezes by Gustav Klimt – and was subsequently shown as the centerpiece of the French Pavilion at the 2001 Venice Biennale. 

Brookfield Properties’ successful lobby repositioning project at One Liberty Plaza builds upon its reputation as among the world’s leading developers of premier real estate. Huyghe is just the latest in a series of distinguished artists whose works have been displayed publicly across Brookfield Properties’ New York portfolio; others include Charles Ray, Christopher Wool, Richard Serra, Rashid Johnson, Isa Genzken, Thomas Schütte, Ellsworth Kelly, and Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen. Brookfield’s celebrated New York trophy office portfolio also includes Manhattan West, 660 Fifth Avenue, the Grace Building, Two Bryant Park, Brookfield Place, and Lever House. 

One Liberty Plaza features expansive, column-free floorplates, sweeping 360-degree views of the Manhattan skyline and New York harbor, as well as a direct in-building connection to the WTC and Fulton Street transit hubs, making it one of the most easily accessible office buildings in New York City. The continued meaningful residential population growth across Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the New Jersey waterfront over the past decade positions One Liberty Plaza well for continued leasing success as the property benefits from superior connectivity to these neighborhoods. Key tenants today include Cleary Gottlieb, NYCEDC, and Aon. 

In addition to Pierre Huyghe’s artwork, the redesigned lobby experience at One Liberty Plaza also features interior design by award-winning firm Gachot with Italian travertine wall cladding, terrazzo floors, and custom furniture. 

Brookfield Properties was advised on the purchase and installation of this artwork by Jacob King of Fine Art Concepts, LLC, and Huyghe was represented by Marian Goodman Gallery