Japanese studio Nendo has collaborated with air conditioning manufacturer Daikin to create an immersive installation with 17,000 flowers of the occasion of the Milan Design Week. Daikin is a manufacturer of air conditioners that specialises in climate control solutions for various spaces and environments. Due to the brand’s unique attention to air quality, the installation revolves around the experience and sensation of “invisible air”.
When a spotlight is layered with a polarizing filter and projected on to another flower-shaped polarizing film, the light passes through two layers of filters which makes the flower’s shadow darker than expected. Pivoting the filter 45 degrees creates a more translucent shadow, and by rotating it an additional 45 degrees, the shadow completely disappears.
In order to create a spatial experience using this principle, 115 polarized spotlights with individually-controlled motors were suspended from the ceiling. On the floor, 17,000 flower-shaped polarizing films were spread in calculated patterns. Each flower was placed in a different height so the entire space appears as a smooth and wavy landscape, as if it was a real garden of flowers.
The movement of the polarizing films on the spotlights allows constant change in the intensity of the flower’s shadows, even though there is no change in the amount of light in the space. And although there is no air blowing in the room, the shadows appear to be effected by a gentle breeze passing through the garden. By focusing on an invisible subject, the installation offers a unique opportunity to experience in sight what we can only feel in real life.
During the Milan Design Wee, Nendo will also present a collection of gravity formed furniture and table top objects designed for Venetian brand WonderGlass. Nendo’s Breeze of Light / for Daikin installation will be on view from 10-14 April at Tenoha Milano, Via Vigevano 18, 20144 Milano, close to Porta Genova train station.