Project team: Laura Cuconati, Safia Dziri, Sidharth Ramamurthy, Megan Stenftenagel
Course: Flexible Hybrid Structures, spring 2018
SpiralOptic, an adaptive light fixture created by students in Simon Schleicher’s Flexible Hybrid Structures course, achieves a dramatic visual unraveling with just the minimal user input of turning a rotational plate. All components — including acrylic rods, a 3D-printed mechanism, and a light source — fit within a condensed cylindrical space, but once activated, SpiralOptic will fan out into a much larger, inverse cone-like shape.
This transformation between two states significantly changes the quality of light, which is filtered with a fiber-optic system using acrylic rods; a lamp nestled within the system’s rotational mechanism illuminates the rods from below. Different top and bottom plates, which have been 3D printed with angled cuts to allow the rods to rest vertically but still enable the desired rotational force, can be interchanged to achieve different fanning effects. With its playfulness and unique approach to illumination, SpiralOptic is designed to enhance the ambience of a party or other gathering.
Want to learn more about SpiralOptic and its designers? Check out:
Side view of SpiralOptic in action (gif)
Top view of SpiralOptic in action (gif)
Sidharth Ramamurthy on LinkedIn
Megan Stenftenagel’s portfolio