“X” Marks the Spot at Reddymade’s Competition-Winning Times Square Sculpture

X by Reddymade. Photography by Noel Calingasan.

Love is a two-way street. For all of February, it was the centerpiece of one of the world’s busiest streets: X by Reddymade won the 11th annual Times Square Valentine Heart competition in New York. “The idea of community as a place of intersection led me to the tectonic expression of X,” founder and architect Suchi Reddy explains. Further inspiration came from the letter being the universal symbol for a kiss and the mark of a democratic vote—as well as Times Square’s X-rated past.

> Check out all 20 Big Ideas from the March 2019 issue

X by Reddymade. Photography by Emanuel Hahn.

“The light illustrated the power of the individual and the strength of community.”

Working with Bednark Studio, Reveal Design Group, Brooklyn Research, and Stratford Engineering, planes of honeycombed aluminum reaching 18 feet high were CNC-cut with rounded openings, so that when they crossed, they created a heart shape. Phrases such as “Add Equality,” “Into Difference,” and “Don’t Forget the Flowers” were cut out of black vinyl placed along the openings. Motion-detection sensors embedded beneath the sculpture’s steel base caused LEDs along its straight edges to glow red or white. The more visitors to X, the brighter the love.