PiXL factory animates restaurant in bulgaria with kinetic lighting spheres

LED lighting company PiXL factory has recently designed a spatial and kinetic light installation for the ‘cosmos’ restaurant in sofia, bulgaria, mimicking planetary movement that reflect the venue’s concept. each planet/sphere travels on a pre-programmed route, thus creating – along with the rest of the globes – striking patterns for the guests of the restaurant while they enjoy its menu

front view of the kinetic sphere

PiXL factory has built the entire system from scratch, with all modules custom made. ‘we had to design, build and assemble all the parts (consisting of more than 4500 elements). then we developed and manufactured custom-made PCBs with a specially written software embedded into the micro-controllers, inside each of them. probably the most challenging part was synchronizing the software and the hardware to run seamlessly together,’ elaborates the studio. the project is already shortlisted for the 2017 restaurant & bar design awards (london). 

the light installation seen in clusters

entrance view, with the spheres aligned

the installation suspended above the bar 

spheres are in random position at that moment

general view from above

restaurant area – spheres are captured in motion

each planet/ sphere moves along a pre-programmed route

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lea zeitoun | designboom