Boom Burst – Art Omi Design Gallery New York State, DD Studio NY architecture, Hudson Valley sculpture park photos
Boom Burst – Art Omi Design Gallery
November 19, 2025
Design: DD Studio
Location: Hudson Valley, Ghent, New York, United States
Boom, Burst, and Softness — Reimagining the Art Omi Design Gallery
Visualizations & photos by Daria Yang Du
Boom Burst – Art Omi Design Gallery, NY, USA
In the Hudson Valley, the Art Omi Design Gallery emerges with a quiet, organic clarity—appearing almost as though it has grown directly from the landscape. The project began with a series of methodical form-finding explorations, in which lead designer Daria Yang Du tested the inflation and deflation of balloon models interlaced with string grids.
This deceptively simple study of expansion and release generated a spatial logic that shaped both the gallery’s exterior form and its interior choreography. The building seems to breathe: a defined geometric volume gradually opens into a more fluid interior, guiding visitors through a sequence of tension and release that mirrors the natural rhythms of the site. In doing so, the project introduces a transferable design methodology and offers a fresh contribution to contemporary architectural discourse.
The project is grounded in a theoretical framework that treats space not as a static container but as a generator of events. Architecture emerges from the intersection of action and space, just as cinema constructs meaning through montage. Here, form, material, and movement are composed to create narrative resonance. Each spatial transition contains its own meaning; walking becomes a narrative act, and the narrative reshapes perception.
The design process was defined by extensive material research. Across dozens of physical experiments, Ms. Du tested variations of tension lines, elastic behaviors, and subtractive massing before arriving at the balloon-and-string model as the primary generator of form. The voided gallery volume was sculpted using subtractive logic, while the stretching and contraction of yarn strings informed the curvature of the roof and the gallery’s circulation path. Concrete and timber establish a deliberate contrast—solid and lightweight, raw and warm—creating a spatial atmosphere charged with emotional tone. The upper-level artist studios are arranged within a linear grid derived directly from the string model, while the bent roof structure reveals the timber system both inside and out, allowing visitors to understand the building’s construction as part of the experience.
These experiments demonstrate how physical materials can become narrative instruments, communicating not only structural performance but also spatial drama. Time plays an equally critical role. The gallery is conceived as a sequence of events rather than a fixed form. As visitors progress through the space, shifts in light, texture, and acoustics accumulate into a cinematic series of perceptual moments. Meaning emerges dynamically with motion, shaped by the interplay of sensory contrast and formal rhythm.
This methodology extends far beyond one single project. In Ms. Du’s Iceland Black Lava Visitor Center, the building grows from the volcanic terrain, embedding geological formations into the spatial narrative. The textures of lava fields and glacial melt become temporal markers, situating the visitor within a narrative of geological time. Similarly, her proposal for the Tremiti Islands Lighthouse Hotel transforms the flow of water into architectural continuity—from ocean to infinity pool, from the carved lobby to the rooftop reflecting basin—while interior walls echo stratified rock formations that direct views toward the sea. The entrance operates like a half-revealed cavern, merging body, horizon, and landscape.
The Art Omi Design Gallery marks the origin point of this ongoing trajectory, demonstrating how a simple physical phenomenon—balloon inflation—can generate a poetic architectural language. This is not a purely formal exercise but a methodology that converts natural dynamics into spatial experience. The gallery integrates seamlessly with its environment, revealing how architecture can activate narrative meaning through material, form, and lived experience. The story is not imposed by the designer; it emerges through the actions, memories, and movement of those who inhabit the space.
The project—together with Ms. Du’s broader spatial-narrative work—has been recognized by the Loop Design Awards, the French Design Awards, and the London Design Awards, underscoring the significance of her experimental methodology within contemporary design discourse. Ms. Du, a graduate of Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, is based in Los Angeles and focuses her research on architectural narrative, material experimentation, and the fusion of form and event. Her professional experience spans leading international studios including BIG, RIOS, MAD Architects, Gensler, and Woods Bagot. Through her independent platform, DD Studio, she continues to develop cross-disciplinary work that integrates architecture, interior, and experience design, positioning built space as a bridge between natural systems and human emotion.
Ms. Du currently serves as a Master Artist with the Asian Art Association Singapore and a jury member for the TAC World Design Awards 2025, roles that underscore her international influence across architectural design, cultural production, and spatial research. As a participant in the UNESCO Cultural Heritage & the Global Peace Summit of the United Nations, she extends her practice toward broader questions of social responsibility and environmental resilience. Her contributions to major U.S. institutional and civic projects—including the LA County General Hospital Master Plan, post-wildfire community reconstruction in Los Angeles, and the Claremont McKenna College Roberts Campus expansion—further reflect her commitment to integrating sustainability, mobility, and spatial narrative within complex public environments. Her work continues to inform emerging conversations around material-led spatial narrative and event-based architectural design.
More info: https://dariayyy.com/boom-burst
https://dariayyy.com/art-omi-design-gallery
Boom Burst – Art Omi Design Gallery New York, USA – Building Information
Boom, Burst, and Softness — Reimagining the Art Omi Design Gallery
Project name: Boom Burst – Art Omi Design Gallery
Architecture firm: DD Studio
Location: Hudson Valley, Ghent, NY
Lead Designer: Daria Yang Du
Built area: 12,000 ft² (exhibition, workshop, and public programs)
Design year: 2022 (Revised 2025)
Visualization & Photography: Daria Yang Du
Status: Conceptual / Award-winning design
Boom Burst – Art Omi Design Gallery in New York State images / information received 181125
Location: Hudson Valley, Ghent, Upstate New York, United States of America.
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