Tom Fruin’s Mosaic Glass House Pops Up in Dumbo’s Empire Stores

A fun new art installation has just arrived in Dumbo. A glass house by Tom Fruin, the Brooklyn-based artist known for colorful glass mosaic watertowers and other structures, is on display in the open-air courtyard of Empire Stores along the Brooklyn waterfront. Kolonihavehus, a plexiglass and steel sculpture of reclaimed materials that is inspired by the shape of a garden house, has been a well-known fixture in New York City – following appearances in Manhattan, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and most recently, North Brooklyn Farm at Domino Park – and around the world.

Kolonihavehus was the first piece in his Icon series, and, according to the artist, takes its name from a ubiquitous shape in Copenhagen, “a modest garden shed originally intended to give state workers a refuge from cramped living conditions in the city.” You can walk inside Kolonihavehus, which is made from about a thousand pieces of salvaged plexiglass from all over Copenhagen, including “a defunct plexiglas distributorship, a closing picture framing shop, the basement of the Danish State Art Workshops, and the dumpsters outside the Danish Architecture Center,” according to the artist’s website.

Empire Stores was built as a Civil War-era warehouse for coffee and sat long vacant in Dumbo until a redevelopment by S9 Architecture and STUDIO V transformed the site into commercial, retail and office-space destination. Now, West Elm has a large office space there, the Brooklyn Historical Society has a museum outpost, Soho House’s Brooklyn location Dumbo House has taken up residence, and soon Time Out New York’s market will open.

Kolonihavehus will be viewable in Empire Stores until the end of May.

Next check out 20 other new art installations not to miss in NYC this month.