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design studio nendo led by Oki Sato at Milan Design Week

The Feeling of Air by nendo

Daikin in collaboration with design studio nendo led by Oki Sato, have an unusual presentation at the Milan Design Week that started on April 8.

An immersive installation designed for “Daikin” was launched by nendo during the Milan design week.

Daikin is a manufacturer of air conditioners that specialises in climate control solutions for various spaces and environments. Due to the brand’s unique attention to air quality, the installation revolves around the experience and sensation of “invisible air”.

Being invisible in its natural state, air is an element that people often take for granted. This exhibit visualises air and enriches visitors’ hearts with its new way of experiencing air.

Milan Design Week - Oki SatoThis installation evokes the sensation of a comfortable breeze by the movement of light and shadows, not actual air. When a spotlight is layered with a polarising filter and projected on to another flower-shaped polarising film, the light passes through two layers of filters which makes the flower’s shadow darker than expected. Pivoting the filter 45 degrees creates a more translucent shadow, and by rotating it an additional 45 degrees, the shadow completely disappears.

In order to create a spatial experience using this principle, 115 polarised spotlights with individually-controlled motors were suspended from the ceiling. On the floor, 17,000 flower-shaped polarizing films were spread in calculated patterns. Each flower was placed in a different height so the entire space appears as a smooth and wavy landscape, as if it was a real garden of flowers.

The movement of the polarising films on the spotlights allows constant change in the intensity of the flower’s shadows, even though there is no change in the amount of light in the space. And although there is no air blowing in the room, the shadows appear to be effected by a gentle breeze passing through the garden.

By focusing on an invisible subject, the installation offers a unique opportunity to experience in sight what we can only feel in real life.

Daikin in collaboration with design studio nendo led by Oki Sato at Milan Design WeekDesign studio nendo led by Oki Sato at Milan Design Week Design studio nendo led by Oki Sato at Milan Design Week - Scale Magazine
Photographer: Takumi Ota