We’ve thankfully become more aware of the quality of our waters, especially with the increase of pollution or drastic changes in the chemical composition of rivers, lakes, and seas. We now have sophisticated equipment and software to monitor such properties, but it might come as a surprise that Mother Nature has her own way of detecting abnormalities in water. Clams, known as nature’s filter feeders, immediately react to sudden changes in water quality, sometimes even faster than scientific equipment.
Taking inspiration from one of nature’s wonder workers, this art installation turns water quality from an incorporeal idea into a tangible representation. Rather than just clamming up, these kinetic sculptures create an eerie melody, as if giving voice to the pain and woes of the water. It creates a surreal yet beautiful manifestation of water quality in a way that you can see and hear beyond just figures and graphs.
Clams aren’t able to filter out toxins (which they turn into pearls), so they would immediately shut close when they detect pollution in the water. Their reaction is sometimes faster than sensors and computers that still have to analyze the data from water samples, though, of course, they won’t be as accurate or specific. This interesting behavior, however, became the inspiration for this kinetic sculpture that, rather than just detecting water quality, translates the data into something just as interesting.
“Clams” is a collection of, well, translucent clam-like objects that have speakers inside. The clams are connected to a sensor that tests the quality of the water in the only way that humans can. Changes in the water quality are translated into sounds that shift over time, creating the semblance of eerie music. The vibrations from the speaker also cause the clamshell to go up and down, making it look like the clams are singing.
The shells themselves are made from recycled waste plastic, adding to the sustainability message of the sculptures. Although the shape of these man-made clams is quite simple, the otherworldly soundscape it produces is quite unique and memorable. It also creates an interesting bridge between media art, data sonification, and environmental awareness, translating intangible concepts and figures into something humans can better appreciate and understand.
At the last Euroluce show in Milan, the Liiu lamp by Vantot, edited by Luceplan, captured attention for its striking design. Liiu is a suspended structure with thin conductive wires that support small LED lamps. These lamps are held in place by springs that adjust their height, giving the entire piece a clean, minimalist appearance. It has since been recognized as an iconic piece, praised for its distinctive and innovative design.
Creating an iconic lamp is no small feat in the saturated market, and Liiu has managed to achieve this status by balancing aesthetics with functionality. Its design is both decorative and functional, drawing interest with its unique form and construction. The lamp’s instantly recognizable structure, coupled with its innovative use of conductive materials, sets it apart from more traditional lighting designs.
Vantot, known for its boundary-pushing approach to lighting design, avoids conventional methods in favor of more experimental techniques. The studio’s portfolio reflects this innovative spirit, with each lamp designed around the way light behaves and interacts with its environment, rather than merely focusing on creating a beautiful lampshade. The complexity of lighting design goes beyond what is typically considered in other design objects, requiring careful attention to both the construction and the behavior of light.
Two of Vantot’s other notable designs, the V-V-V and O-O-O lamps, exemplify the studio’s approach. The V-V-V lamp features a thin metal structure suspended by wires that also conduct electricity. This eliminates the need for traditional power cords, creating a sleek and modern design that serves both decorative and functional purposes. Its fishbone-shaped metal frame holds three LED lights, which diffuse light horizontally, making it an art piece as much as a lighting fixture.
On the other hand, the O-O-O lamp provides a different kind of lighting experience. While it uses similar conductive materials, its design is intended to provide subtle, ambient lighting. The glass lampshade directs light vertically, diffusing it gently throughout the room. The modular construction allows for customization in both the size and frequency of the lighting elements, making it adaptable to various spaces and user preferences.
Both lamps, along with Liiu, illustrate how Vantot explores new possibilities in lighting design, leveraging contemporary LED technology. LEDs operate at much lower voltages than traditional lighting, allowing for more creative flexibility in how electricity is conducted through the structure. This opens up new ways of integrating lighting into interior spaces safely, without the need for bulky or dangerous power cords.
The Liiu lamp, in particular, stands out for its elegant simplicity, combining function and form in a seamless design. Vantot’s attention to detail ensures that every element of the lamp, from its height-adjusting springs to the conductive wires, is carefully considered and tested. The studio’s approach to research and development means that each product undergoes extensive testing and refinement before reaching the market, ensuring that both aesthetics and performance are optimized.
In addition to their individual products, Vantot also creates large-scale lighting installations that showcase the full potential of their designs. These installations are often sculptural in nature, blending art with functional lighting in a way that enhances the surrounding environment. The Liiu lamp itself originated as one such installation before being adapted for commercial production.
Vantot’s work highlights the importance of innovation in lighting design, focusing on how light is emitted and managed rather than simply how the lamp looks. With Liiu, V-V-V, O-O-O, and other designs, the studio demonstrates that lighting can be more than just a source of illumination—it can be an emotional and immersive experience, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in contemporary design.
This year we got a chance to experience the London Design Festival! Currently, in its 22nd edition, the festival takes place on 14-22 September in London. It celebrates London as a design capital of the world while presenting a series of exhibitions and installations that explore design through different mediums such as light, materials, sounds, and more. Designers and creators from around the world showcased dynamic and fluid installations such as ‘Light in Motion’, where light was explored, or the Materials Matter fair where the importance of materials, and how they impact us was focused upon. We’ve picked out the Top 5 installations and designs from the London Design Festival that we loved experiencing. We hope you love them too!
1. Light In Motion by Acrylicize
This stunning inaugural exhibition by Acrylicize is called ‘Light in Motion’ and it is running at the London Design Festival this year. It celebrates the fluid and dynamic interplay of light and form, diving deep into its bond with space, time, and movement. Twelve artists, designers, and engineers showcased their work, manipulating light to adopt a sculptural form, allowing it to move across walls and rejuvenate spaces. The displayed works are an effort to bring focus on the quality of light, and how it can be moved and perceived. “Each practitioner has approached light and motion from a unique perspective and with a different relationship to time. Yet there is a sense of continuity between the works,” said the curators.
The installation ‘10,000 Tiny Suns’ by Generative Optics experiments with light as a medium and subject. It includes an intricate and impressive assembly of compound lenses, interconnected through a fibrous framework, which ushers and manipulates the path of light. It is made using advanced 3D-printed lenses, caustics, and algorithms. Designed by Relative Distance, a London-based studio, Phase is a long-form timepiece that showcases the details of the moon’s surface, via an artful use of light and glass. The surreal installation replicates natural moonlight, forming a unique and immersive experience.
2. Design You Can Feel by ASUS
ASUS’s Design You Can Feel Exhibition is open to the public till 22nd September, and it is one to check out. Centered around the material ‘Ceraluminim’, which was used by ASUS to develop its Zenbook laptops, the exhibit explores not only this material but also intricate topics such as craftsmanship and artificial intelligence. Ceralumin boasts a light and durable tactility, merging the qualities of both aluminum and ceramics, making it a one-of-a-kind material with a surreal nature-inspired aesthetic. Six product and industrial design studios were selected to express the various qualities of Ceralumin through furniture, lighting, and installation design.
British designer Giles Miller built a stunning floor-to-ceiling sensory installation comprising 1800 pieces. Thick timber petals were positioned astonishingly and artfully, allowing them to rotate, and resulting in seamless rhythmic patterns. South Korean design studio Niceworkshop created the Aluminum Formwork (AL-FORM) series – a collection of solid seating and tables built from old skyscraper formwork. The collection’s lounge chair was ceramized by ASUS, making it one of the first products to feature Ceralumin, besides the Zenbook laptops.
3. SPECTRUM by 2LG Studio
Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead teamed up to form the 2LG studio, and this year they’re completing 10 years of collaboration. To celebrate their years of creation and innovation together, they partnered up with the London-based hotel Hart Shoreditch to present the immersive exhibition ‘SPECTRUM’. Through Spectrum they are creating a sensory journey within the hotel, setting up a series of vibrant and colorful interventions. They are “exploring human and personal connections to color, evoking memories and inviting conversations.”
The hotel is based on a theme of ‘joyful minimalism’, and various products have been reimagined intriguingly and colorfully. The creations include a reincarnation of a rug by Floor Story in the form of a large-scale moiré using AI filters in a rainbow spectrum. Other pieces involve an eight-minute soundscape written with the composer Quentin LaChapele and a wraparound video piece by digital artist Lucy Hardcastle.
4. Material Matters
50 acclaimed brands, designers, makers, and organizations have contributed to creating the Material Matters fair on the iconic Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf on London’s Southbank. The fair attempts to celebrate the significance of materials, and the myriad ways in which they shape and affect our lives. It includes five floors flooded with products, installations, curated exhibitor spaces, and an extensive talks program too. It dwells deeply into how the design world can address problems regarding the circular economy, and how material intelligence makes a difference to our lives.
The FIBER FUTURES exhibition showcases eight different approaches to alternative resource streams, innovative spinning techniques, and bio-manufacturing, as well as opening up new pathways for real change. It is led by Adidas AG and RWTH Aachen University. The Locally Grown installation is an interactive one, and it explores hair as a new material, highlighting its great potential. Led by Studio Sanne Visser, this project focuses on the development of human hair as a super-scale regenerative material.
5. Pavilions of Wonder by Nina Tolstrup
Nina Tolstrup designed and set up three immersive pavilions on the Strand as a part of the London Design Festival. The impressive structures are inspired by Barbie Dreamhouses and Palm Springs’ mid-century modern architecture. She teamed up with Barbie creators Mattel and the tourism agency Visit Greater Palm Springs to bring the installation to life. Named the Pavilions of Wonder, the pavilions are a tribute to the whimsical and vibrant design of Barbie’s Dreamhouse, while nudging at the desert modernism of Palm Spring’s architectural style.
The Playful Pauses Pavilion is inspired by the Palm Springs City Hall and Tramway Gas Station. The gas station was taken as a source of inspiration for previous Barbie Dreamhouses as well. It features a simple metal grid, and a pointed roof, accentuated by kaleidoscopic circles which have been crafted from painted drainage tubes. The Design Stories Pavilion is made from CNC-cut plywood connected by a metal scaffold grid system that can be disassembled when needed. The structure merges the design philosophy of straight swimming pools with the geometric signage typically seen in Palm Springs.
It’s always interesting and nice to see installations that are not just works of art but also invite the viewer to interact with it. Sure, paintings and sculptures in museums are nice to look at but of course you’re not allowed to touch them for important reasons. So art installations are much more accessible and in a sense, more experimental, especially if visitors are invited to touch and explore it.
Paired Cubes is a temporary pavilion that is set up in Busan, South Korea but is also created to be transferred and assembled in other public spaces. It is made up of 3,500 recycled polycarbonate panels put together in 2.5m tall pavilions and put together without any fittings or glue. It has eight outer facades and two inner walls and the overall effect, especially when illuminated, is that they look like floating panels.
Aside from its sustainability, the pavilion is also pretty interactive as visitors are actually invited to interact with the structure and its visual patterns and optical textures. They are put together in both a symmetrical and asymmetrical fashion. During the day, you can explore the layered surfaces that bring about various shadowy patterns. When it becomes darker, it becomes a luminous box which attracts you to go inside the pavilion.
Up to 6 people can go inside the structure at once but you can also just stay outside to play around with the panels. It is also built to be easily disassembled, transported, and reassembled so we can expect to see this pop up in other areas after this.
It’s always fun to see public art things that people can actually touch and interact with. Where I live that is a rarity for a lot of reasons so I envy places that have an abundance of public art exhibits. If you’re in London, particularly the Chelsea area this summer, you can check out this interesting part of the art trail where something seems like one thing but is actually another thing.
Love Continuum is a large piece of typographic art that inspires its viewers (kids and kids at heart) to actually climb on it and play on it (safely of course). It is located on the Duke of York Square in Kings Road as part of the Kensington + Chelsea Art Week celebration which runs until August. At first it just looks like a huge red spring or swirly thing that may be a random piece of art in the city.
But if you actually look at it from a certain angle, it spells the word “love” in cursive. When viewed in other angles, it’s hard to see the word as it’s just a red worm that you can climb on, sit on (maybe not so comfortably), or just look at. But when you finally see the word it spells out, it’s a “eureka” moment that you’ll enjoy. You can also invite other people to discover this not so secret secret.
The “red squiggly worm” is 7.5 meters in length and is the latest in Alter’s continuing work of colorful concepts that invite people to play with it and enjoy his art. And with the “secret” word that is part of the sculpture, it adds another dimension.
I live in a city where our idea of shared spaces are mostly malls. The fact that we don’t have any outdoor public places is a combination of bad city planning, the often too hot or too rainy weather, and maybe not seeing the need for places like these. So I envy cities where there are all kinds of parks, public squares, seafront quarters, and other spaces where people can just hang out without having to buy anything. And when there are even more interesting art installations there, I get even more envious.
Designers: Velvet, UN-LIKE, Stina Onemar
The Noblessner port in Talliinn, Estonia has existed even before World War I but now that it’s not a submarine shipyard anymore, it has become a public seafront quarter. A major attraction in this space is an illuminated bird’s nest made from metal, disused industrial objects and light art . What’s even more interesting here is that it was inspired by the sketch of 5-year-old Stina Onemar who thought about seeing something like this on top of the former lighting mast.
The eggs in the nest are made from polyethene and are actually weather resistant because of the rotational molding technology. The branches are made from materials from construction sites, including leftover roof edge trim to make the steel frame. These metallic materials also serve as reflectors for the lighting installation. The paint will also sport the eventual wear and tear until it blends with the light pole where it’s on top of, matching the natural ageing process since it’s located outside.
This is an interesting piece of art that combines reused materials with a natural design. The team from Velvet said that their design also shows how actual stork nests actually become “intertwined with human-made objects”. It’s also nice how they still involved the 5-year-old kid who inspired all of this in the production process. The nest light installation is visible from the road and also from the ships at sea.
