Anarchitect’s installation for Dubai Design Week highlights the human relationship with natural light
Dubai and London-based Anarchitect has unveiled its installation for Dubai Design Week, inspired by human circadian rhythms and our relationship with the sun and moonlight.
Their Circadian Light Synthesis installation aims to highlight the different positions, colour temperatures and intensity of sunlight that dictate our natural body clocks. “The relationship between body and light conditions is important for human well-being and a key aspect of design and architecture,” says Anarchitect founder and director Jonathan Ashmore. “Circadian Light Synthesis will harness the intense sunlight as well as moonlight conditions at its location while providing a recognisable welcoming, recharging, explorative and contemplative area for the Dubai Design Week visitors.”
The installation features two, interconnected pavilions. The southern, more exposed pavilion remains open-sided and houses a seated area for visitors, which doubles up as a shading structure. Its wall and roof apertures are oriented in line with sun path, harnessing an intense light and casting shadows, particularly at midday, mid-afternoon and at sunset. The northern pavilion is predominantly closed and lit with ‘artificial sun’, a rotating light fixture developed by lighting designers Deltalight.
At night, this light fixture will rotate to project the moonlight into the northern pavilion from the rear of the same light source. The other side of the rotating light fixture will project the light onto the exposed side of the pavilion, providing it with a light source and creating the shadows and light play after the sunset.
The structures of the installation are clad in TerraPlus Cammeo clay by Matteo Brioni, a mixture of raw earth, mineral binders and resinous polymers, which allow greater resistance to abrasion and water without losing its permeability.
Circadian Light Synthesis is open throughout Dubai Design Week, and is located at the key pedestrian entrance to the Dubai Design District (d3) between Buildings 4 and 6.
