Snarkitecture Draws Hypebeasts in Frigid Temperatures for Tickets to Snark Park

It’s 7:00 P.M. outside the Kith store on Lafayette and Bleecker Street. It’s 15 degrees Fahrenheit on this frigid New York evening, but that hasn’t stopped the hypebeasts—young people closely tuned to the latest waves of trends in fashion, art, and culture—from lining up around the block for what’s inside the store. Ahead of the March unveiling of Snark Park, a new art and design installation coming to Hudson Yards from architecture and design firm Snarkitecture, the group has partnered with Kith to "drop" ticket sales for the project, along with an exclusive item for a select number of those willing to wait in the line.

The “totem,” a white pillar made from a cast, is what we’re all here for. The truth is, you can purchase tickets to Snark Park online for $28. The totem can’t be purchased. The totem must be earned. So we wait. Me and the hypebeasts. I’m in the back of the line, having gotten here at 7:00 P.M.. Those in the front of the line showed up at various points in the day. Some came at 11:00 A.M., only to be told to come back later. Others came in the early evening, around 5:00 P.M., when they were given a ticket that would hold their place in line for when it was OK to come back to their numbered place in line. I, with no such ticket, do not feel confident that I will be receiving one of the limited-edition totems.

It’s somewhat clear among my fellow line-waiters that I’m one of three people not wearing Kith or Supreme-branded something. (The other two are wearing Palace hoodies.) I’m not usually a part of the streetwear or hype world, and I’m wondering what brings these fans to wait in the cold for a totem and a chance to talk to the Snarkitecture founders, who are inside the store for the drop about to commence.

“‘Cuz we’re hypebeasts,” says Dajhia, a girl in line and a student at LIM College. “It’s all about co-branding, co-partnerships, brand partnerships. It brings a lot of exposure.”

Her friend, Torey, fills me in on the real reason they’ve come out tonight. “We’re here for the statues, we’re art appreciators. We found out about [Snarkitecture] through the Kith collab. It’s exclusive, we’re the only ones that are going to have it!”

“A lot of New Yorkers are hypebeasts,” says Dajhia. Then, correcting her initial statement: “We’re not hypebeasts. We’re true fans of Snark Art.”

Down the line from me are two 14-year-old boys, Nolan and Tyson. They tell me that they came down to get in line as soon as school let out. The installation is also bringing in true architecture fans, though: fans whose interests happen to overlap with the street-style culture at which Kith excels.

“We really wanted to check out Snarkitecture’s exhibit,” Nolan tells me. “Also, I don’t really have that much art, and [the totem] would look really cool in my room, I thought. Plus, their work is really cool with, like, textures and stuff.”

“We heard a little rumor that Ronnie [the owner and designer of Kith] was going to be here,” Tyson adds.

"We had track practice today, but it got canceled," says Nolan. “We got here at, like, four. We came and got numbers, then we came back at five and switched out the numbers for wristbands. Then we came back later to get in line."

While one may think of architecture fans as an older crowd, older than 14 at least, the boys are here to prove that sentiment wrong. When asked if they plan on getting tickets to the exhibit as well as the exclusive totem, both boys’ faces light up. “I’m getting tickets tonight. I’m really excited to see the installation. I’m really excited to see how he experiments with the space. With the columns, you can go inside and see things.”

Eventually, the time comes. Those who have weathered the cold pour into the store, through to the elevator, and out into the second floor's event space. It’s like St. Peter’s gates opening to reveal sneaker-head heaven. People are incredibly excited to meet the guys from Snarkitecture, sneak a peek of Ronnie, and “cop” one of the limited-edition totems, which look like the future installation park's pillars.

In the back of the room, the team from Snarkitecture has created a smaller-scale version of the Snark Park installation to come in a few months. It’s a small setting of white columns that look like plaster moldings, with cutouts to look out from, climb through, and redirect light around.

While Snarkitecture has long been the fun-loving cool kids of the architecture world, their work has involved high-level and intricate designs from retail locations to installations to designing furniture and objects like the totems, each with a level of fun and playfulness not seen enough in the architecture world.

“I think we certainly take our work seriously, but sometimes the work involves a level of play, and to celebrate what we do and be excited about it,” says Benjamin Porto, a partner at Snarkitecture. “All firms should be excited about their stuff, have a party, and not have to project a seriousness, but really embrace fun and play with all aspects of the work,” he says. “Sometimes, giving that to people, they’ll do what they want with it. It’s not making something that’s purposefully playful or that we’ll imagine someone will have a type of experience; we just give you an open canvas to do your thing. I think it lends itself to people being free and enjoying themselves.”

The real skill Snarkitecture has shown, though, is the ability to cross over into other fandoms—like street culture—and reach people on an architectural level. The young people lined up outside weren’t here for the park opening, merely the ticket drop, with the hook of the exclusive item. Knowing how to bridge that gap as a firm is a unique platform to engage a new audience on.

“We operate at all different scales,” Porto tells me. “We produce objects and larger things. We always love embracing that scale, and it seemed natural for us to produce a great object that would kick things off.”

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