Crystal Chandelier

Crystal Chandelier is an interactive lighting installation created for Come Up To My Room at Toronto’s Gladstone Hotel in January 2016. Suspended in the lobby, five illuminated forms reinterpret the chandelier as a clustered structure that responds to activity below.

The forms were developed in Grasshopper through the aggregation of tetrahedra into crystal-like configurations. Acrylic tubes establish each framework, while iridescent fabric stretches between the members to give the open geometry a reflective surface. Together, the five clusters form a larger composition that can be experienced from different positions in the lobby.

Motion sensors connect the lighting to visitors’ presence and movement. As people pass beneath the chandelier, programmed LED strips change color, bringing different qualities of the iridescent fabric into view. The response invites people to pause, move, and observe how their actions alter the installation. In this way, play becomes a means of discovering the relationship between body, light, and space.

The project extends a familiar decorative object into an interactive environment. Its form is shaped through computational design, but its changing appearance depends on the people who occupy the room.

Project information

• Location: Gladstone Hotel, Toronto, Ontario

• Exhibition: Come Up To My Room

• Year: 2016

• Project type: Interactive lighting installation

• Materials: Acrylic tubes, iridescent fabric, LED strips, and motion sensors

• Dimensions: 12 × 18 × 4 ft