xian architects enlivens beijing winter with sparkly ice prism

xian architects enlivens beijing winter with sparkly ice prism
all images courtesy of xian architects

the ‘winter, 214 liters of water’ project by beijing-based xian architects is an ice sculpture that seeks to revive people’s perception towards changing weather conditions. set in a valley on the outskirts of beijing, the piece reflects and refracts sunbeams from the surrounding environment. installed on the coldest day of the year according to chinese solar terms, ‘third nine’, or ‘sānjiǔ day’, the ice for the 2800 mm prism was taken from a nearby spring that had frozen over and cut into a 440mm wide equilateral triangle. the clear material achieves the same level of purity as quartz, offering a high degree of transparency, making dispersion, internal reflection and refraction possible. placed on a large rock in between the mountain range, ‘winter, 214 liters of water’ emits a long band of rainbow into the valley, as the sun shifts across the landscape. the structure captures the cold winter, clear sky, a specific moment and shadow from the terrain – reflecting the sensitive relationship between people, weather and time.

‘whenever man changes its viewing position or variation of sunbeams’ angle of incidence, the ice prism may disappear, shine, split colors or become dark.’ says xian architects.

sunlight between the mountains projects onto the ice prism

colorful reflections change throughout the day

the sculpture becomes a dark line in the landscape

the transparent structure is shaped as an equilateral triangle

sun rays reflect off the ice at a specific angle to create a long band of rainbow

different phases of production of ice prism

spring water flows into the pool and freezes to ice, its thickness can reach 440mm at times

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