Archinect - News

The new world's largest kaleidoscope is a sight to behold

2022-02-03T14:33:00-05:00

The creative landscape of Saudi Arabia got a colorful new addition as STUFISH Entertainment Architects has revealed its design for what the firm says is now the world’s largest kaleidoscope.

The massive 40 x 6 x 3-meter (131 x 19.5 x 10-foot) installation hinges on an intricate series of LED tiles and a combination of seamless and warp-less mirrors that create an expansive, awe-inspiring internal environment. Visitors will be exposed to scenes of the Arabian Peninsula's stunning natural landscape and spotted with digital content that promotes the country’s investment in high-tech development.

Image copyright Stufish courtesy of LEAP

The installation is part of the 2022 LEAP future technologies conference hosted by Saudi Arabia, which concluded today at Riyadh’s Front Expo Centre. STUFISH partner Maciej Woroniecki says it is meant to represent “how a simple and considered design, when supported with a material that can scale as intended, can return an experience that is far larger th...

New York-based Hou de Sousa creates Prismatic, a kaleidoscope spectacle

2018-12-10T14:13:00-05:00

If you find yourself in Washington, DC in the upcoming month, a spectacle of light, color, and form finds a temporary home in Georgetown Waterfront Park. Designed specifically for the park, New York-based architecture and design office Hou de Sosa creates a mesmerizing installation that provides a kaleidoscope effect. With the design process occurring in three phases, the duo uses a single box celluated by prisms starting from a center point to mimic the contextual features of the area. This technique allows for an array of perspectives that passersby can experience.

Prismatic © Hou de Sousa

Appropriately named, Prismatic is an experience that allows for the public to immerse and explore within the multi-angular form. Using a moiré effect, the sculpture consists of iridescent cords woven through steel lattice. The gaps between the polychromatic cords are the key to creating this dynamic visual effect. Using the foreground as a contributing factor to the piece, visitors are able to wa...

MVRDV creates a jewelry inspired installation for Milan Design Week 2018

2018-04-19T13:41:00-04:00

MVRDV collaborated with Bvlgari for Milan Design Week 2018 in an installation embodying the Italian jewelry brand’s creative approach. The firm transformed Bvlgari’s iconic Serpenti bracelet into a unique architectural experience. Finely crafted scales fill an entire room combined with mirrors to create a kaleidoscope effect, introducing the visitor to Bvlgari's world of precious and unconventional materials.

Serpenti installation for Bvlgari at Milan Design Week 2018, by MVRDV. Image: MVRDV.

“With this installation, we wanted to capture the colors, materials and inventiveness of Bvlgari as a world-renowned brand,” says Jacob van Rijs, co-founder, MVRDV. “By turning their timeless Serpenti pattern into a space, jewelry becomes architecture. Enter the Serpenti!”

The showcase at Milan Design Week takes place in the Brera Design District as part of Milan’s Fuorisalone. The installation is on view until 22 April 2018.

Celebrate diversity! A Resource for your rendering needs

2015-09-23T01:57:00-04:00

Kaleidoscope challenges the dominance of gendernormativity, ableism and race-blindness in architectural drawings by diversifying the population of represented peoples in renderings. Choosing to include underrepresented people in drawings not only reflects reality, but also actively imagines a more just, inclusive, and pluralistic society.

h/t @Justin Garrett Moore

Zipper-fastened kaleidoscopic architecture

2014-08-08T13:35:00-04:00

The installation you see above is a project by Masakazu Shirane and Saya Miyazaki called "Wink," their entry into Kobe Biennial's Art Container Contest. The kaleidoscope concept uses mirrors (in keeping with Sir David Brewster's classic), but is also held together by zippers. Shirane and Miyazaki claim this makes it the first "architecture" based on zippers; proving you can create an adaptable, reconfigurable space using the same tech found in your pants.