Beside the Sun by Asif Khan
Design Miami/ 2012 has come and gone for another year. One of fluoro’s top picks for this year was Parhelia, Greek for “Beside the Sun”. Swarovski Crystal Palace presented Parhelia, a collaboration with London-based designer Asif Khan.
Parhelia was an experiment in architecture and nature that explored the phenomenon of ice halos, rare luminous rings which appear in the sky under certain cold atmospheric conditions. Keeping with his research-based approach to design, Khan collaborated with Manchester University, UK, to gain a further understanding of ice halos, where he and his team were able to create the world’s first indoor ice halo, much to the surprise of the University’s scientists.
“Parhelia is an experiment that begins at the crossroads of architecture and nature,” says Khan. “I was first inspired by the atmospheric and optical properties of the sky in northern latitudes and with the idea of transporting its light to a contrasting environment. This installation is about exploring the use of crystal as a medium to infuse architecture with light.”
The design incorporated over 1.3 million Swarovski crystals in an architectural structure nearly 6m high which offered visitors a dramatic façade featuring crystallized halos that appeared as the visitor moved through the exhibition space.
The installation was Swarovski Crystal Palace’s seventh consecutive exhibition at Design Miami/, following installations by Ross Lovegrove, Greg Lynn, Troika, Fredrikson Stallard, Eyal Burstein, and Erwin Redl. Swarovski Crystal Palace, an experimental design platform, has been a Main Sponsor of Design Miami/ since 2008 as part of its mission to promote talent in the worlds of art, architecture, design and technology, while redefining the use of crystal as a material for expression.
