this sculpture by the sea isolates viewers on a faux deserted island

a curved, semi-circular wall of mirrors juts from the sand on cottesloe beach in perth, australia. spanning 72 meters long, the desert island somewhat mirrors that of gjøde & partnere arkitekter’s previous work, the infinite bridge — interestingly, there is something just as infinite about this sculpture by the sea.

image courtesy of richard watson

the geometry, the mirrors and the sun create an illusion. viewers find themselves standing at the center of a faux deserted island off the indian ocean. those alone within the semi-circle may experience intense solitide; contrarily, those who stand together within the confines of gjøde & partnere arkitekter’s mirrors may experience a strong sense of togetherness, as if they are standing by one another at the center of the world, surrounded by waves, apart from everything else.

image courtesy of clyde yee

‘the idea behind the desert island,’ says creative director and founder, johan gjøde, ’is to add a spatial quality to the infinite horizon that stretches across the sea. by extending the horizon onto the beach we want to create a space that triggers the imagination…’

image courtesy of gjøde & partnere arkitekter

while the illusion and the feeling it creates is complex, the engineering is rather simple. a series of glass mirrors, standard plywood boards, and triangular timber frame supports are all submerged by half a meter of sand, creating a 63.4 meter wide diameter that covers 880 square meters of beach.

image courtesy of gjøde & partnere arkitekter

‘the movement and interaction of people on the desert island is an integral part of the experience of the work. kids playing on the beach, couples walking in the sand, friends relaxing together – all shapes and colors become part of the installation. facing west the installation also catches and emphasizes the spectacular sunsets for which the area is renowned thus adding a new spatial dimension to this scenic event,‘ says johan gjøde.

image courtesy of clyde yee

image courtesy of gjøde & partnere arkitekter

image courtesy of ross duggan

image courtesy of gjøde & partnere arkitekter

image courtesy of gjøde & partnere arkitekter

project info:

architect: johan gjøde, gjøde & partnere arkitekter
materials: glass mirrors, plywood boards, timber frames, steel fixtures and steel plates
dimensions: height: 2,44 meters; depth of entire construction: 21 meters; width of entire construction: 63.4 meters; radius of the curved mirror wall: 60 meters; depth of individual frame: 1.6 meters; width of individual panel: 1.22 meters; length of the curved glass mirror wall: 76.4 meters
location:  sculpture by the sea, cottesloe beach, perth, australia
(the exhibition runs from the 2nd to the 19th of march 2018)
project year: 2017 – 2018