Sensing Change: Creating organic serenity in a concrete jungle

The trellis is made of brushed metal fins housing 500 Color Kinetics iColor Accent Compact and Color Kinetics iColor Flex LMX gen2 direct view luminaires – 4000 K fixtures face the viewer and RGB fixtures face the wall. Blending line-of-site and reflected lighting enables the sculpture to alternately appear as a single- or multilayer surface, for a complex and organic lighting effect. A controller connects the system to live weather feeds and powers the animations, including a Special Event mode, that allows building management to program and schedule distinctive color patterns and animation styles to mark local Chicago events and holidays.

With time, ivy planted along the base of the sculpture will climb the LED trellis, revealing the contrast between technology and the natural world and evoking the sense of dappled light through trees.