Icosahedral Sky

Reverse engineering of existing lighting installation

"A specialist lighting artwork reminiscent of an illusionistic renaissance quadratura recreating the external environment within the lobby. Suspended across the double height space is a field of bespoke hemispherical reflectors with their internal animations driven by current weather conditions. The combined affect is a live 21st Century trompe l’œil rendering of the sky outside. Icosahedral Sky takes its name from the 20 sided shape which was used to design the interior surface of each reflector hemisphere. Every side and edge of an icosahedron is equal meaning it can be subdivided many times to create a highly reflective, multifaceted texture."

As part of a succesful interview at JBS, I was asked to reverse engineer their 2018 installation- icosahedral sky and offer a proposal for manufacturing of the lighting modules which make up the array.

The most crucial aspect of the design here relates to centralising and balancing of the modules in accordance with their mounting on long and narrow stalks. In order to avoid introducing any deflection into the stalks and to keep weight at a minimum, it is important that the centre of mass is position exactly below the ceiling mounting point.

This excercise was carried out in a very short timeframe, so 3d modelling was limited to low res (enough to provide a working estimate of the position of the CoM), this location could then be used to design bracketry to correctly position the components reative to the stalk. Drawings were presented in 2D along with suggested manufacturing methods for each major component and rough estimate of costs.

Managers at JBS shared with me that the solution I had offered was incredibly close to their final design, with the only difference being an alternate manufacturing method as applied to the dome. I was offered the role with the company but ultimately declined to take it for personal reasons.

Design images used are property of Jason Bruges Studio and not for public use

Client: Jason Bruges

Location: British land, London, UK (Existing project)

Date: Existing project 2018 (Reverse Engineering exercise 2022)

Role: Technical designer