Client: Siam Piwat

Overview

Infinity Field is an array of fifty vertical mirrored chambers on the seventh floor plaza of Iconsiam, a mixed-use development on the banks of the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand. The mirrored chambers occupy the space between a series of reflecting pools and the main entrance. The random placement of the vertical elements along with their reflective surfaces provides a forest-like arrangement of shifting reflections for visitors to pause, wander through, or simply pass by. As visitors pass through the mirrors during the day they encounter a field of reflections that mix their surroundings, themselves, and the Bangkok skyline. Once inside the forest of mirrors they become part of a mise en abyme (“placed into abyss”) or image within an image. The Droste effect produced by the mirrors reflected off one another produces an ever changing infinite reflection. At night the mirrored chambers are lit from within with LEDs that respond to sound. The chambers are clad in two way mirrored glass and when they are lit from within the repeated nature of their outward reflection is inverted, creating an infinite field of light in each chamber.

Goals

The goal was to activate a large open plaza in front of the main mall entrance of the large mixed use development. The plaza is located above the Apple's first and largest retail space in Bangkok. While the apple space is quite active the plaza above was easily overlooked with the bright openness of the retail space below. By adding a field of two way mirrored chambers with animated interior light the plaza can be seen as a dynamic space rom the street level and river front at night while also creating a fun and intimate space for pedestrians on the plaza. The diamond shape of the chambers is driven by the existing tile pattern on the plaza. Each chamber is the size and shape of one of the tiles so the chambers are integrated into the plan as if they were part of the original design.

Process

We worked with Siam Piwat and local fabricators to develop porotypes and the glass details so no fasteners or visible. This was crucial to us for the chambers to appear magical rather than constructed object. We developed wiring plans so local contractors could remove the existing tiles and place power and data below the finished plaza surface to connect each chambers. Once installed we programmed the lights with a color gradient that mimics the gem theme of the overall mixed use development and behavioral animations that respond to curated msuic played in the plaza.