Dichroic Light Field
New York, USA
1994-1995

The Dichroic Light Field was the winning competition entry for the blank exterior wall of a health club on Columbus Avenue in New York.  The design responds to the planar nature of the setting and appears to trap ambient light on the surface while creating an illusion of depth.
A perfectly flat gridded plane of chemically strengthened textured, semi-reflective, tempered and laminated glass panels is secured to a simple steel substructure.  This creates a diffused surface that reflects the light conditions in the sky: from leaden snow-clouds to the brilliant blue of New York's brightest days.  Two hundred and sixteen dichroic laminated glass fins, arranged perpendicular to the plane and secured behind the surface, have the effect of reflecting and transmitting complementary halves of the spectrum of light, creating constantly changing fields of colour.  When seen from the North, the field ranges from pale green to indigo, when seen from the South, it ranges from gold to magenta.

James Carpenter, Luke Lowings, Richard Kress and the team at JCDA designed and fabricated this project as a commission by the developer.

The project received a citation in the 1996 Benedictus Award.