daan roosegaarde's lotus dome illuminates jerusalem cave

daan roosegaarde’s lotus flower illuminates jerusalem cave
image © studio roosegaarde

dutch designer daan roosegaarde has created a motion-and-body sensitive dome that illuminates the rustic interior of a cave in jerusalem. hundreds of ‘smart flowers’ composed into a large-scale sphere respond to bodily movement to alternately create positive patterns of shadow and slivers of light in a textured interior of zedekiah’s cave, a 5 city block wide limestone quarry within the old city. reportedly the largest in jerusalem, the 20,000 square meter cave is rendered an composition of dappled forms with the illuminated extension of the folding flowers. accompanied by a passage of phillip glass’s ‘the light,’  the built space becomes an intangible, technopoetic extension of human behavior within the network of carved voids. 

‘lotus dome’ – hundreds of high-tech flowers by studio roosegaard
video courtesy of daan roosegaarde

a large-scale sphere responds to human vicinity and bodily movement
image © studio roosegaard

daan roosegaarde has been invited to speak at some of the biggest creative conferences globally, bringing his distinct brand of responsive and interactive design systems to such events as design indaba 2013 in cape town where he shared his thoughts on the future of design, and elaborated on his practice of ‘techno-poetry’–the union of innovation and imagination in a merging of disciplines. his artistic practice focuses the intangibility of digital information, translating it into something that is physical through the development of interactive installations which react to our behaviours and movements.

patterns of shadow and slivers of light texture the interior of zedekiah’s cave
image © studio roosegaard

more recently, roosegaard presented at the annual belgrade design week where he further explained the ever-important exchange between the human body and technology as well as the role of customization, personalization and the analog-to-digital shift in his work.

‘smart lotus foils’ move based on light exposure and human interaction
image © studio roosegaard

the 20,000 sm cave is the largest in jerusalem
image © studio roosegaard

smart skin’s morphosis  dapples walls with a constantly-changing pattern of light
image © studio roosegaard

petals close when no one is present to activate them
image © studio roosegaard

detail of petals opening
image © studio roosegaard

the foils are made of many layers of mylar, which reflects the changing context
image © studio roosegaard

the dome shape illuminates all surrounding surfaces
image © studio roosegaard

daan roosegaard’s lotus flower illuminates jerusalem cave
image © studio roosegaard

‘lotus’ responds to touch
image © studio roosegaard

‘lotus dome’ at sainte madeleine in lille, france
image © studio roosegaard

accompanied by a passage of phillip glass’s ‘the light,’  the built space becomes an intangible, technopoetic extension of human behavior within the network of carved voids
image © studio roosegaard

daan roosegaarde
portrait © designboom

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