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Read the press release here.

Glowing Water Purifier to Fill MoMA PS1 Courtyard This Summer

By Jeanmarie Evelly | February 6, 2015 5:58pm | Updated on February 9, 2015 9:04am
 COSMO," an irrigation system that can filter 3,000 gallons of water, will be installed in late June.
"COSMO" at MoMA PS1
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LONG ISLAND CITY — A large glowing water purifier will illuminate the courtyard of MoMA PS1 this summer, providing refuge to weary revelers at the museum's annual outdoor music series.

"COSMO," an installation by Andrés Jaque Architects/Office for Political Innovation, is the winner of this year's Young Architects Program, the museum announced Thursday. The contest challenges designers to create works that offer water, shade and seating for Warm Up, MoMA PS1's weekly summer concerts.

The winning piece is made of "customized irrigation components" and designed to filter 3,000 gallons of water over four days, removing nitrates and particles and balancing its pH levels, according to a press release from the museum.

The contraption purifies the same water over and over, and the center of the mechanism will glow whenever the process finishes, organizers said.

"The party will literally light up every time the environment is protected providing a dynamic backdrop for the Warm Up summer music series," the museum's description of "COSMO" reads.

"It will gather people together in an environment as pleasant and climatically comfortable as a garden as visually textured as a mirrored disco ball."

Andrés Jaque/Office for Political Innovation, a New York- and Madrid-based company, intends for the piece to be a statement on global water scarcity, according to the museum. It will open in late June.

This is the 16th year that MoMA PS1 has had the Young Architects Program. Last year's winner, "Hy-Fi," featured structures made from corn stalks and mushroom root.