nendo lights up milan design week 2019 with immersive installation of 17,000 'flowers'

during 2019’s milan design week, nendo has teamed up with daikin to form the ‘breeze of light’ installation. in collaboration with the air conditioner manufacturer, the project is based on the concept of ‘invisible air’ and aims to provide visitors with a unique spatial experience that offers an opportunity to ‘experience in sight what we can only feel in real life.’

image © designboom (main image © takumi ota)

nendo‘s installation for daikin takes visitors on a winding path through a field of 17,000 ‘flowers’. these ‘flowers’ are in fact made from polarizing film, which are spread in calculated patterns. each flower is placed at a different height so the entire space appears as a smooth, undulating landscape – like a real garden of flowers. the designers have also explored the polarizing material. by pivoting the filter 45 degrees, a more translucent shadow is created, and by rotating it an additional 45 degrees, the shadow completely disappears. 

image © takumi ota 

to make the unique spatial experience, nendo has used 115 polarized spotlights with individually-controlled motors suspended from the ceiling. the movement of the polarizing films on the spotlights allows constant change in the intensity of the flower’s shadows, even though there is no change in the amount of light in the space, and although there is no air blowing in the room, the shadows appear to be effected by a gentle breeze passing through the garden.

image © takumi ota

image © takumi ota

image © takumi ota

image © designboom

image © takumi ota

image © designboom

image © takumi ota

project info:

project name: ‘breeze of light’

project location: tenoha, milan, italy

design: nendo for daikin