Collective Choi+Shine Architects has created a trio of installations above the water of Singapore for the 2017 iLight Marina Bay Festival which had the theme for the festival of Biomimicry and sustainability. The installation in-between the imposing skyscrapers, helps people to stop for a moment and take time to look again. The highly time-consuming installation has a length of 17 meter and weight of 100 kg each. Fifty people created this all in a period of two months. The giant crochets interact with natural light during daytime and glow when lightened during night.
 

This project is inspired by sea urchin shells, which are enclosed yet light weight, delicate and open.  Their textured and permeable surface interacting with light creates openness, while the pattern’s mathematical repetition brings visual rhythm and harmony.  Against light, the sea urchin natural form reveals one of the most spectacular patterns found in nature.
 

The Urchins interact with natural light during the day, and glow when illuminated at night.

At night, the mysteriously hovering and glowing large Urchins create a sense of magic as if time has stopped.  When viewers enter into the Urchins, they will be surrounded by a single layer of glowing, lacy surface, where they can enjoy the detail and texture of the Urchins and see the city, water and the sky through this visual filter.  When other viewers see the occupants in the Urchins, the occupants will glow within the lacy room, creating an illusion of ethereal levitation of the occupants, while the occupants become a part of the art work.
 

Seeing hovering and glowing lacy objects against majestic skyscrapers and dark water would make them pause and gaze.  This momentary pause of the mundane routine of our life would hopefully give us an opportunity to find the poetry around us.
 

During the day, the crocheted surface of the Urchins reflects, absorb and retransmit sunlight. In the morning or late afternoon sun, the Urchins appear as glowing, translucent object. During  the full day sun, the lightweight and yet huge lace urchins cast intricate, patterned shadows creating both a pleasant visual experience and providing a small shelter from the hot sun.
 

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