Starlight in New York by Cooper Joseph Studio

Article source: Cooper Joseph Studio

This site-specific light sculpture marks a new era for the museum, igniting the majestic circular stair at the heart of its historic interior. Conceived as a perfect circle in elevation, the sculpture is in dialogue with the stair so that old and new are joined in one experience.

Image Courtesy © RUSH Design, Eduard Hueber/ArchPhoto Inc.

• Architects: Cooper Joseph Studio
• Project: Starlight
• Location: New York, U.S.A
• Photography: RUSH Design, Eduard Hueber/ArchPhoto Inc.
• Architect in Change: Wendy Evans Joseph, FAIA
• Lighting engineer: Studio 1Thousand
• Fabrication: RUSHdesign

Image Courtesy © RUSH Design, Eduard Hueber/ArchPhoto Inc.

As visitors move up and down between floors, they perceive a dynamic array of radiating patterns of light points. The effect is generated by the inherent nature of a geometry of a uniform spatial grid. In a way that the Museum has not seen in years, visitors are using the public spaces of the building. The design holds a series of contrasting complexities. Initially experienced as bright and boldly sculptural, up close it becomes delicate and ethereal.

Image Courtesy © RUSH Design, Eduard Hueber/ArchPhoto Inc.

The design team did not add fancy program or color to the lights – not only as a cost consideration, but to emphasize the purity of the light, the simple circular elevation, and the dynamic array of starburst moiré effects inherent in the three-dimensional grid. In a series of mockups, the concept of un-lensed light was tested for intensity and visual affect. The premise was based on the practical consideration of taking the budget and dividing by the cost per LED and coming up with a number of diodes.

Image Courtesy © RUSH Design, Eduard Hueber/ArchPhoto Inc.

Each light diode, or pixel, is constructed from double-sided circuit boards, on which white LED chips are mounted. The use of naked (non-lensed) chips provides the most precise point of light available. This state of the art technology uses minimal energy, generates virtually no heat, and will last for years without replacement.

Image Courtesy © RUSH Design, Eduard Hueber/ArchPhoto Inc.

Tags: New York, U.S.A.

Categories: Installation, Museum

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