RadiaLumia (2018)

RadiaLumia is a geodesic sphere, five-stories tall, and covered with a breathing skin of forty-two origami shells and radiant spikes. Its shape nods to radiolaria, a tiny protozoa with intricate mineral skeletons that covered the desert thousands of years ago, when it was once the sea floor.

From afar, you can see the folds of the shells, made of corrugated polypropylene and illuminated with over 100,000 LEDs. The shells open and close, constantly in motion, sometimes protecting the intimate interior of the sphere, sometimes revealing a glimpse of its heart.

FoldHaus brought this extraordinary experience to the Playa in 2018.

Stay TUNED FOR MORE

Follow us on Instagram (@foldhauscollective) or Facebook (@Foldhaus), and come back to this website as we will continue to publish more of the spectacular photos and videos of the sculpture.

Thank you to our supporters

RaduaLumia was made possible by the work and contributions of many. In particular, we'd like to thank Burning Man Arts and IDEO for their generous support, as well as the Pieron Family and Eleanor Preger.

The SCULPTURE

In the bright sunlight, the shadows of each individual origami shell create beautiful patterns. Visitors marvel at the movement of the origami shells, opening and closing.

At night, RasiaLumia transformed into a beacon of light, sparkling and pulsating. Photo by Peter Ruprecht

The Making Of RadiaLumia – a kinetic, interactive art installation by FoldHaus Collective. Video editing by Steve Moore, Drone footage, by Matthew Niederhauser

From paper to playa

[1] Paper prototype (January 2018)This initial paper model is roughly 4 feet wide, and shows how the movement of each shell will cover and expose the sphere. We developed numerous prototypes of the fold pattern until these were identified as the one… — **[1] Paper prototype (January 2018)**
This initial paper model is roughly 4 feet wide, and shows how the movement of each shell will cover and expose the sphere. We developed numerous prototypes of the fold pattern until these were identified as the ones to scale. (This could be one of many patterns of movement.)

[2] Full-size prototype of one shell (Feb)In order to figure out how to create the movement of the shells, we have built a full-scale prototype of one, with off-the-shelf mechanical parts. This helps us understand the forces of the system and possib… — **[2] Full-size prototype of one shell (Feb)**
In order to figure out how to create the movement of the shells, we have built a full-scale prototype of one, with off-the-shelf mechanical parts. This helps us understand the forces of the system and possible problems we will need to address going forward.

[3] Interaction Design experiments (March 2018)

Computer animated prototypes let the Interaction Design team play with possible mechanical animations of shells.