Times Square is no stranger to love, being home to thousands of proposals, marriages and meet-cutes. And this Valentine’s Day, for its 17th annual Love & Design competition, a massive 3D heart from Pernilla Ohrstedt Studio will be on display in Duffy Square.
For the month of February, Pernilla Ohrstedt Studio’s Love Ever After, along with curatorial partner The World Around and collaborator Billion Oyster Project, will invite onlookers to ponder love, sustainability and environmental awareness. The structure’s three dimensional heart, constructed with metal mesh from oyster reef cages, will alter in shape and color as the perspective of the passersby changes. An additional reef cage filled with oyster shells will accompany the art installation as a nod towards the Billion Oyster Project’s future mission of rehabilitating the New York Harbor with one million oysters by 2035.
These “geometries of a heart” will tell a story of reuse and regrowth, amplify The World Around’s curatorial vision for a project to address material lifecycles, through its own creation, that makeup our surrounding spaces. Love Ever After particular uses material that will influence a more equitable future.
Love Ever After will be on display from February 4th through March 4th, 2025, giving visitors enough time during New York City’s season of love to enjoy its beauty and message. Once the sculpture leaves Duffy Square, the material cages will be placed along NYC shores for the project’s oyster restoration efforts.
Did you know NYC used the be the “Big Oyster,” before catching its current nickname of the Big Apple? The New York Harbor was once rich with oysters, and consumption in New York was so great that the shells were then used for road construction, mortar, and burned to produce lime—now, shells crowd our landfills. The Billion Oyster Project now collects used shells from restaurants to recycle them for oyster reefs that will protect NYC’s waterfront and filter our waters.
“From the heart of New York City to its shoreline. Our sculpture will begin by broadcasting love for people, community and environment,” said Pernilla Ohrstedt Studio.
Other finalists of the 2025 Love & Design competition include: Atelier Masomi, Jerome Haferd, Space Caviar, and Studio Galeon. You can view their submitted works on the Times Square website.
🗓️ February 4 – March 4, 2025
📍 Duffy Square, New York