Manifests a moment of calm and reflection suggesting the movement of waves, clouds or dunes, all activated by shifting winds.
ACTIVATING LIGHT WALL
DOHA, QATAR
2010
BackImages
ELEVATION
RENDERED ELEVATION
SECTION ILLUSTRATING PROGRAM AND LEVELS OF DESIRED SCREENING
PHYSICAL MODEL
DETAIL OF PHYSICAL MODEL WITH SILVER AND GOLD PERFORATED METAL
LED STUDY USING PHYSICAL MODEL
Description
The Activating Light Wall serves to provide balanced levels of screening between the entry and the South Terminal building of the Hamad International Airport. Responding to the terminal building’s varying program of mechanical, hotel rooms, lounges and circulation spaces behind the screen, the artwork consists of a modular system. The primary isosceles triangle frame supports a secondary elongated hexagonal frame, on which finely perforated metal diamonds are attached. Variations in the angle of the fold cause the diamonds to vary their 3-dimensional form, creating shifting levels of obscuration, transparency, depth and reflection.
The artwork’s rhomboid shapes generate a wave-like shimmering plane of light, which, like the rhythm of clouds passing across the sky dome, manifests a moment of pause and reflection. Through the mathematical exploration of geometry in Islamic art, abstraction is transformed into the revelation of the underlying laws of nature.