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Architects: People's Architecture Office
- Year: 2022
Text description provided by the architects. The ecosystems on which we depend appear stable but are in fact extremely fragile. This contradiction inspired the Tower of Mirrors, an inflated fabric structure that appears metallic in material and robust in form. The Mirror Tower is a combination of two pyramid forms that are mirrored vertically. It is suspended above an open-air courtyard at the Kingway Brewery as an installation for the 9th Shenzhen Biennale for Urbanism and Architecture.
The upper pyramid rises above the wall surrounding the brewery to become a part of the building facade and an iconic landmark that can be seen from a distance.
At night the inflatable structure presents an other-worldly effect. It becomes a glowing sculpture that is part of the surrounding urban landscape.
Through the openings in the walls at street level appears the lower part of the Pyramid Scope. Shifting and distorted reflections of the surroundings can be seen by passersby.
The lower, upside-down, section of the Pyramid Scope is enclosed by three walls. Directly below the suspended installation is a circular inflatable that allows people to sit and peer upwards to see stunning reflections through layers of inflatables.
The inflatable tubes of the Pyramid Scope are connected with the use of nodes made of multiple rings. At these intersections people can look through the interiors of the inflatables, towards the sky, or at each other, to experience kaleidoscope-like visual effects.
The Pyramid Scope is an interactive installation that can be viewed from the city streets and experienced from within the exhibition space. With its lightweight materials and modular connection methods, it can be quickly installed with little disruption to existing locations to create an entirely new space. After the exhibition, it can be reconfigured into other triangulated forms for other locations or be entirely recycled.
