Recently, a London-based art and design studio loop pH have developed ‘the SOL dome’, a fully responsive lighting pavilion in Michigan. The honeycomb-shaped structure is assembled onsite from thousands of individual circles woven from composite fibers, extending through space with its hollow lightweight constructing.
Measuring 8 x 4 meters and weighs just 40 kg, the ‘SOL dome’ is illuminated by a circular matrix of solar powered LEDs. The portable structure is animated; it interacts and adapts to its environment, similar to a plant and its surrounding ecosystem. The rotational breathing rhythm of light is driven by an onsite CO2 sensor—the underlying geometry and construction technique of the dome is based on chemical and molecular bonds between carbon atoms. When each fibre is bent into a circle, it charges the LEDs like a battery, creating a controlled energetic structure.
