“Digital Sky” reflects the patterns and movements of nature, letting this interior space breathe through the calming play of light. This piece, a full color, digitally-controlled ceiling installation, brings light, color, and pattern into the built environment while also promoting organic interactivity. When this installation is set to “breathe mode,” it has the appearance of inhaling and exhaling, matching the rhythm of people’s movements as they pass through the space.

Developed as a lighting installation in a mixed-use building lobby, designers wanted to make the transition from public exterior spaces to private interior spaces more profound, while promoting emotional wellbeing. The project uses biophilic designs that mimic the sky above and algorithms to simulate calming patterns found in nature, such as waves, clouds, and light passing through a tree canopy.

The installation uses rip-stop fabric rectangles, like miniature flags, hung vertically several inches apart to cover the entirety of the lobby ceiling. The flags were alternately rotated to create boxed spaces between them and make the inverted terrain of the installation smoother and slightly less uniform. Using parametric design tools, JA designers adjusted the length of these flags to create a billowing topography. The fabric is clipped to a grid and lit from above by a massive grid of LED screens that can be programmed to play different colors, patterns, and animations, setting the stage for human connection and calm.

LOCATION Kirin Lobby
COMPLETED October 2021
DIMENSIONS 12’ x 30’
MEDIUM Fabric, LED Screens
DESIGNERS Shane Leaman, Jack Chaffin, Lu Zhang
COLLABORATORS R | Miller, Resolute, Sina Electronics
PHOTOGRAPHY Rafael Soldi

RECOGNITION
2022 Design Milk
2022 Multifamily Design + Construction
2022 January, Seattle DJC