‘solarsonic’ by ray king, taipei, taiwan all images courtesy of ray kin daytime long shot of 14 lenses
philadelphia-based sculpture ray king has completed ‘solarsonic’, a 94m long chromatic glass sculpture suspended in the international departures terminal of taoyuan international airport in taipei, taiwan. the light-responsive model is an homage to chinese cultural history, aeronautics, space travel and a symbol for its high-tech future. the series of 14 iconic lens elements is derived from the ritualistic neolithic jade discs with a central opening that were used to meditate on transcending earth to the heavens, which is the earliest reference to flight, is suspended within the terminal’s exterior canopy structure.
the lenses are a tensile ring structure clad on one side with holographic light-defractive glass are graduated in size from 2m to 4m diameter, and is connected by 20 horizontal cables, woven in a torroidal pattern, tensioned and attached to anchorages at both ends. the overall 172m long ensemble is reminiscent of a segmented chinese dragon kite as scaled from the fuselage of the sst. it is one in a series of chromatic sculptures by king designed to interact with the sun. the concave holographic lenses are positioned to face easterly to greet passenger cars and buses entering the terminal.
evening
single lens
installation
attaching holographic glass to lens
preparation of lens
hoisting lens for suspension
threading 20 toroidal cables
anchorage node at one end of assembly
video © ray king
wire frame drawing
section
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