Ceilingscape
We developed this ceiling ‘landscape’ using a series of what we called ‘toggles’ that shift the form and apertures of the ceiling in our computer model, like a musician might dial the sound of certain instruments up and down to create a song. Here, our goal was to create a tool to modulate form and natural light based on specific parameters.
As the position of the roof skylights and ceiling openings (shown by the blue rectangles above) slides left or right or scales up and down, the ceiling changes both its shape and the quality of light. The ability of this basic form to ‘toggle’ in response to the activities in the space below, its position in the room, and the desired softness of light, creates endless possibilities for the ceilingscape to respond to the surrounding conditions.
The Program Toggle adjusts the shape of the ceiling related to the function of the space below –for example, making a lower, more intimate space over a dining room.
The Threshold Toggle modulates the transition from one space to another, much like a doorway delineates one room from another.
The Mystery Toggle –the most fun one– controls the awareness of the source of light –from seeing the sky above to blocking the source of the mysterious light entirely.
Two variations of the Ceilingscape.
Testing the model in the studio and testing the installation in a space.
This prototype ultimately was not completed, but the ideas live on to see the light of another day.
