Preciosa Lighting creates a stunning lighting installation at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1
Changi Airport partnered with Preciosa Lighting to create a lighting installation for a newly refurbished area at Terminal 1 Departure/ Transit Hall.
Sculptural light garden
The Preciosa team knew the installation had to be something outstanding. The lighting should have a strong narrative, rooted in the tropical garden theme characteristic of the airport interiors and all of Singapore. Garden Metamorphosis is a sculpture which blends in unique compositions, exploring the shapes and patterns of nature. It captures every moment of a garden’s never-ending transformation. The installation is organic and fluid, featuring abstract shapes to trigger visitors’ fantasies. Preciosa Lighting designer Anna Kralova was the lead designer on the project. “This is the transformation that nature naturally undergoes,” Ms. Kralova said. “Here, these leaves turn into butterflies which visually blend with the leaves. Just like in nature – when a butterfly sits on a flower or a leaf, it completely merges with it.”
A bright touch of light
The installation is more than ten metres long and 9 metres wide. There are more than 650 hand blown crystal components including small and big butterflies and small and big single and double leaves. Each component is an original and handcrafted at the Preciosa factory in the Czech Republic. The metal base is champagne and polished brass for a warm feel. Component colours include clear crystal, frosted crystal, champagne, light pink, pink, and light and dark lustre.
The architecture and interior design was led by RSP Architects Planners & Engineers, Singapore. Preciosa Lighting worked with the main contractor, Takenaka Corporation, Singapore.
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Cosentino and ANARCHITECT unveiled the slow-tech public installation ‘Context Reflections’ at Dubai Design Week 2021
Architectural surfaces leader Cosentino and Dubai and London based design practice ANARCHITECT jointly unveiled ‘Context Reflections’ a slow-tech public installation at the heart of Dubai Design District (d3) as part of Dubai Design Week from 8-13 November 2021.
Built using Sunlit Days, the first-ever carbon neutral surfaces collection from Silestone by Cosentino, the permeable installation invites visitors to enter a darkened chamber to pause and discover the intriguing play of penetrated light created via a naturally occurring optical phenomenon. The self-operating, analogue installation draws inspiration from the principles of ‘Camera Obscura’ of why we see what we see. The moving images conjured on the inside wall – inverted ‘live’ projections of the surroundings outside the construction – suggestively asks visitors to slow down, observe with attention and reflect on the constantly changing environment.
In a panel discussion moderated by regional design expert Rue Kothari during the launch event at Cosentino City Dubai on 7th November, the ANARCHITECT Design Team and Cosentino’s Middle East Marketing Manager Miriam Llano revealed several facets of the installation.
Elaborating on the concept, founder and director of ANARCHITECT Jonathan Ashmore commented, “Context Reflections continues ANARCHITECT’s ongoing research into the relationship of natural light, materials, and the importance of context in all architecture and interior spaces we engage in. Given the diverse and unique international settings the Practice works in, the installation concept was developed by our Team for Cosentino to highlight the consistent importance of light and materiality in our work; as well as raise our sustainable collective consciousness by going back to basics and calling for the observation of the contexts that surround us, here purposefully using a low-tech, full-scale analog design tool”.
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Cosentino collaborates with ANARCHITECT to create a public installation for Dubai Design Week
Architectural surfaces leader Cosentino partners with award-winning Dubai and London based design practice ANARCHITECT to create ‘Context Reflections’ a public installation at the heart of Dubai Design District (d3) during Dubai Design Week from November 8-13, 2021.
Built using Sunlit Days, the first-ever carbon neutral surfaces collection from Silestone by Cosentino, the permeable installation will invite visitors to enter a darkened chamber to pause and discover the intriguing play of penetrated light created via a naturally occurring optical phenomenon. The self-operating, low-tech installation draws inspiration from the principles of ‘Camera Obscura’ of why we see what we see. The moving images conjured on the inside wall – inverted ‘live’ projections of the surroundings outside the construction – suggestively asks visitors to observe with attention and reflect on the constantly changing environment.
Elaborating on the concept further, Senior Architect Tom Herd from ANARCHITECT reveals “Context Reflections continues ANARCHITECT’s ongoing research into the relationship of natural light, materials, and the importance of context in all architecture and interior spaces we engage in. Given the diverse and unique international settings the Practice works in, the installation concept was developed by our Team for Cosentino to highlight the consistent importance of light and materiality in our work; as well as raise our sustainable collective consciousness by calling for the observation of the contexts that surround us, here purposefully using a low-tech, full-scale analog design tool”.
Design wise, ‘Context Reflections’ holds on to the principles of simplicity and practical sustainability.
”It was important to us that the installation was designed mindfully with minimal material wastage and is a demountable, reusable structure to give it the possibility of a second, third life” explains Matt Harding, another member of the ANARCHITECT design team behind the project.
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Kart group unveils an interactive art installation at Dubai Design Week 2020
Kart Group is unveiling an art installation at Dubai Design Week 2020— ‘The Leader’; which celebrates HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s journey of leadership and supports future designers. Dubai Design Week will take place from 9-14 November 2020.
The experimental and interactive three-dimensional art installation showcases a giant silhouette of the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai. ‘The Leader’ is a commemorative admiration of HH Sheikh Mohammed and his inspired leadership of the eclectic population of the United Arab Emirates. The sculpture virtually guides onlookers through his journey of accomplishment, diversity and ordeals. ‘The Leader’ progresses into an optimistic future through an ‘ewan’ style space. HH Sheikh Mohammed has a down-to-earth relationship with the people of Dubai.
The vibrant culture of the city attracts residents and visitors from around the world, and this sculpture pays homage to a remarkable man. The inspired Kart team brainstormed the various factors and pressures of being a leader.
The concept was to create a complex and multi-layered inverted sculpture that possesses a powerful visual impact whilst remaining minimalistic. The space inside the cube provides a sphere in which a white cementitious paint finish ornaments layered cut out Styrofoam. The textured veneer gives weight to the otherwise light-weight and voluminous sculpture. Concise internal layering creates an aureole around the silhouette of His Highness, representing his revered leadership glory.
The artwork installations will be positioned across the city, which will enrich an already creative vibrancy and raise the community’s connection with art. The sculpture will convey a message, through art, of hope and prosperity despite the effects of the global pandemic. The distinctive three-finger salute expresses his approach to the country -winning, victory and love, which symbolises his work ethic, success, and the love of the nation.
Why ‘Thermally Speaking’ installation is a revolution in the field of lighting design and architecture?
Revealing our body heat in three-dimensional space through experiential illumination, “Thermally Speaking” project in Ontario, Canada used thermography and infrared measuring instruments to uncover the fields of energy of which we’re all apart. The responsive installation transformed Toronto’s Fort York Visitor Centre for Nuit Blanche 2019, providing a glimpse into a future of body temperature readings, creative data visualisation, and surveillance fields.
Designed by LeuWebb Projects and produced in collaboration with Mulvey & Banani Lighting as part of their CITYLights Toronto initiative, the installation also provided an opportunity for technical development for students in the field of lighting design and architecture.
Audiences were invited to move through, over and around the ramp of the Visitor Centre both as observers and subjects of observation, participants in dialogue with the phenomena around them. Thermal imaging cameras relayed and translated the heat energy of visitors into a shifting curtain of light, animating the channel glass facades of the existing building.
Photo credit: Doublespace Photography