-By AnnMarie Marano

project: concept for Manhattan Marriage Bureau
location: New York
designer: Johannes M. P. Knoops

Apparently, you can fight city hall. When Johannes Knoops, FAAR, Assoc. AIA, heard of New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg's plans to remove the Manhattan Marriage Bureau from the Manhattan Municipal Building—the chapel's home for the past 96 years—he decided to develop a concept that would keep it there while also utilizing the architectural assets of the building itself.

"It's one of the tallest government buildings on the planet. It's dramatic, a critical building historically, and its designer from the former [firm] McKim, Mead, and White won the Rome Prize in Architecture from the American Academy in Rome, just like I did," says Knoops, an assistant professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), who won the Rome Prize in 1999. "The location is just ideal; it really is."

In order to provide more space in the building, Knoops removed it from within and placed the bureau on the roof, opening it up to natural daylight, as well as incredible views of the New York skyline. With competition growing amongst major cities such as Paris, Rome, and New York to perform civil ceremonies, Knoops' concept would make it a real destination spot for couples looking to tie the knot.

"I just wanted to make it a more magical place," offers Knoops, who says the current chapel's dingy appearance is not spoken of too fondly by its visitors.

Knoops' re-design features a floating, white, veil-like structure that wraps around the tallest point of the building, starting just below the copper statue named "Civic Fame" that sits atop it. During the day, it would benefit from the natural daylight, and by night, it would be illuminated by a series of light bulbs between the inner and outer layers of the structure. "The whole thing would glow up there in this heavenly way," he explains.

Knoops says his version of the marriage bureau could possibly be constructed using Panelites. The manufacturer's translucent honeycomb panels would clad a standard metal frame on the inside and out, with an acrylic facing on both sides of the honeycomb and the seams heat-sealed. The entire structure would also need to be waterproofed.

While he says he has no idea what the budget would be for such a project, the cost of heating or cooling would be relatively economic. "I conceived it all in about the course of two weeks," he says. "I would really love to develop it further." Mayor Bloomberg, are you listening?

jury comment:
"Witty, poignant, and appropriate, this concept is both a charming veil on the McKim, Mead, and White landmark and an incredible place to imagine a ceremony, high over downtown Manhattan. It is clever and somehow believable. This project should be built. It provides the spirit and hope that a wedding day should embody. "