| Category | Urban Art |
|---|---|
| Year | 2016 |
| Size | - |
Projects
Rhizome House
Light in design, light as design
What happens when one stops perceiving light as a means to elevate art; approaching it instead as something intrinsic to design? We say: Rhizome House happens. A light structure design that was conceived in collaboration with DP Architects for the prestigious Amsterdam Light Festival, its success does not simply lie in how seamlessly lit it is. But in its perfect marriage of light and structure; so that it spoke and connected with its audience because of – not merely due to – its lighting aesthetics.
Chosen from 500 submissions worldwide in two categories, “Rhizome House” was the only Asian and Singaporean finalist entry handpicked to be one of the 14 lighting installations to be built for the Illuminade route and Watercolour Route of the prestigious Amsterdam Light Festival. The light structure, designed in collaboration with DP Architects, was displayed from December 2016 to January 2017 at the Hermitage Dock in Amsterdam.
Details
Where high-density polyethylene gives Rhizome House its form and aesthetic response to the theme for the Illuminade route at Amsterdam Light Festival, the light installation breathes life and delivers its user-experience.
8700mm long, 2400mm wide, 4500mm tall and 105m3 in volume, Rhizome House is formed of three basic components: steel frame, HDPE rhizomes and a lighting system.
All this is housed within a steel frame that recalls the construction of Dutch canal houses, so that the design serves as a synthesis of the type of structures animals build – home, traps and displays, forming a thought-provoking, fun and interactive connection between all three.
Within the frame of each house, the rhizomes are ordered and subdivided by a series of control points then unrolled to generate flat-2D AutoCAD data. Finally, each element is perforated, labelled and nested into sheets for CNC cutting. The individual sheets are then riveted together creating a stiff self-supporting network within which the LED linear lights can be suspended.
Creative roots
The innovative design – geometrically derived from nature’s root-like rhizome structures – was a response to this year’s theme of “biomimicry” for Illuminade. Starting from the investigative process of bio-construction and why animals build, the manmade design is biomimetic in principle, inspired by the interconnected systems found in natural organisms.
The ultimate goal was to allow for the rhizomes, or root networks, to be displayed in a fun and interactive way, where its perceived boundaries encourage curious users to enter the trap. In creating these “perceived boundaries”, it was essential that materiality and light come together in a playful and interactive manner. Our end product is a light installation containing brilliantly changing RGB LED light diodes and weather-resistant, translucent high-density polyethylene material parametrically shaped as root structures that grow, branch and connect.
With its display of linkages and connections, Rhizome House is the embodiment of a perfect synergy between art, science, humanity and nature. Visitors are encouraged to explore their way through the roots, with light that responds and changes colour when it detects movement. The “Rhizome House” experience then becomes a series of stimulating contradictions – familiar and foreign, amusing and thought-provoking, blue and then pink.
Specialist Services
Integrated services provided for this project.
AWARDS
| 2016 |
Amsterdam Light Festival Design Competition - Winning Entry Rhizome House |
|---|