Showcased at this year’s Wanted Design Manhattan—which ran from May 20 to 23 in New York—this interactive, circular bench is a collaboration between building material manufacturer 3Form and Brooklyn, N.Y.–based designer and Makingworks founder Louis Lim. At first glance it looks to be a geometric, looped bench, but the piece comes to life when you touch it, lighting up with a sequence of LEDs that seemingly bounce around inside of it.
Courtesy 3Form
Mobius is the product of Lim’s five-week residency at 3Form’s offices in Salt Lake City, according to the company. He was invited to experiment with 3Form’s products after a conversation with company CEO Talley Goodson, during NYCxDesign 2016.
Courtesy 3Form
The bench is made of 3Form’s Dark Chroma material, an engineered resin surface that looks like semi-translucent black or dark gray, but emits saturated color when lit. A group of high-powered LED strips are looped around a hollow tube inside of the bench and programmed to respond to vibration sensors mounted onto an inner core. The data complied by these sensors dictate the movement and intensity of the LEDs so that when users sit or tap on the bench, the lights are activated, and put on a mesmerizing light show.
The Mobius bench will be on display next at NeoCon in Chicago’s The Mart from June 12 to 14.
This article is part of a weekly series spotlighting the latest in innovative products and materials. Read more of ARCHITECT’s Objects of the Moment here.