THROUGH THE LOOKING PRISM

 DP INSPIRATION AWARD: HONORABLE MENTION

AMSTERDAM LIGHT FESTIVAL: SHORTLISTED

KEIKAN KAIKA 2005: HONORABLE MENTION

RIBA HIGH PASS NOMINATION

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YEAR: 2017

LOCATION: AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

GFA: 10 SQM

STATUS: CONCEPT

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Through the Looking Prism. As I look through the prismatic window, I see not another world, but our own, fragmented, refracted surroundings. At first, it feels alienating, but as I stand still, I start to reorder this altered worldview in color. Time slows, I glimpse what was once a tree, a bench, a bicycle and I consider them now in a new light. How was it once that they were so apparent to me, but I did not see them? The Looking Prism transports the spectator to an alternate reality, in which they are asked to slow down, reevaluate their surroundings and their own ‘sense’ of being (“Sinn des Seins”).

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20mm thick transparent and angled acrylic panels coated with dichroic films are stacked with its interlocking system with adhesive creating a dichroic prism wall. The wall consists of 200 panels, and is supported by a metal frame containing an electric cable and LED light source. The overall form is made like a double spiral and allows the visitor to enter freely.