Out of an international collaboration including WRT, Cloud 9 Architecture, Ebner-Ullmann Architecture, and Frei Otto Architecture, came the winning entry for The New York Aquarium Perimeter Vision Competition. The design gives the Aquarium an iconic identity suitable to the spirit of Coney Island, brings people closer to the pulse of the sea through an interactive skin, and harnesses the natural energy of the beach environment and the Boardwalk.
The skeletal structure of the “Web” rises up from the perimeter, arching over the entire Aquarium. The Web is covered with a cable mesh dotted with 40,000 solar-powered LED’s, which change color nightly according to the amount of solar energy collected during the day.  A variety of materials attached to the mesh including vegetation, ceramic tiles that shed water, and misting nozzles to cool the climate, bring the structure to life. All together the Web will operate in the same way that a fish’s skin breathes, moves, communicates through light and reflection, filters, protects, and regulates temperature.