Architect Daniel Libeskind and his son did not beat around the bush when naming their 350-pound, nine-foot light fixture, “eL Masterpiece.” As you can probably tell, eL Masterpiece wasn’t created during a few cute, father-son after school crafting sessions. In fact, Libeskind’s son, Noam, is an astrophysicist at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam in Germany, and it took both sets of familial expertise to dream up and realize such a, well, masterpiece. Using 1,680 RGB LEDs and an algorithm that Noam developed, which simulates the “cosmic light that fills the universe,” the Libeskinds programmed and built an LED light fixture that visually represents the birth of the universe in vibrant colors. Every second represents one billion years, so the piece runs on a 14-second loop that tells the story of cosmic light from the “Big Bang” until present day. Boasting a steel exterior and a 23-karat gold interior, eL Masterpiece was commissioned by luxury lighting company Zumtobel and debuted in December at Art Basel Miami Beach.
Thanks to Architizer for the images.
I’d love to hear more about the thoughtful and talented lighting designers you mention. Anyone in particular I should check out? Thanks!
In a time when more thoughtful and talented lighting designers are being economical with materials and use of electricity, trust the ego-driven Libeskind clan to come up with an over-sized, wasteful and extremely ugly light fixture. The Libeskind family is incapable of being subtle or refined.