Artist and architect Inés Esnal’s Prism installation uses colorful elastic rope to form triangular spaces that filter light into the lobby of a new residential building in New York.
The installation's vivid colors and optical illusions provide a bold contrast to the concrete walls.
View images and learn more about the project after the break.
From the architect: Prism is an installation composed of taut colored ropes that form triangular surfaces in the space, creating an optical illusion of vibrant colors in the lobby of 205 Water Street, a new residential building in New York.
The geometric weave filters three beams of natural light entering through the skylights, transforming the zenithal light into rays of color like an optical prism. The lightness of the cords contrasts with the hard concrete of the background.
The artist, also an architect, was in charge of designing the building’s lobby, constructed entirely in concrete.
The cords line the ramp that connects the entrances of two apartment blocks, creating various cross-sectional views that generate dynamic perspectives and alternative experiences along the walkway.
The wall joints hide the metal sections where the strings are sewn in. Thus, the airy and colorful volume of strings seems to emerge from the rough concrete surface.
Prism represents the leap of the artist’s drawings into a three-dimensional space where the abstract lines of her prints become tangible, allowing for a new material experience of her graphic work.
Installation Design: Ines Esnal + Studio Esnal
Building Architect: S9 architecture
Location: 205 Water Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Size: 815 x 230x 60 cm
Date: Diciembre 2012
Assembly: Ines Esnal, Ramon Gonzalez Carballada, David Sentis Claret, Roy Scandela, Nicola Medrow-Bürk, Adam Birnbaum
Photographs: Cameron R Neilson
