Catalonia-based French architect Stephanie Chaltiel, founder of MuDD Architects, designed a 3D knitted structure with incorporated LED lights.

Called D.lights, the structure consists of two vaults made with 3D knitting technology. The fabric was designed with various densities and degrees of transparency. It has a neutral beige colour to allow interaction with light. Integrated LED lights, developed by ProtoPixel, are point-to-point controllable to recreate various light scenes in the fabric. The structure has inflatable ribs, making it flexible and lightweight.

Chaltiel says, “[D.lights has] been designed as an emotional surface: it collects a succession of light, colour and sound scenes, evoking the natural scenery of a forest, raindrops or a sunrise accompanied by birds. A new portable architecture, which establishes a dialogue between the interior and the exterior space, capable of recreating and amplifying other scenarios.”

The structure was created in collaboration with Simon at this Simon Electric Concept Space for Casa Décor 2021. Different light scenes, their intensity and colours, are coordinated with the choreography traced by drones in the air on the textile membrane. When the drones approach the structure, the lights begin their mutation, “symbolising the joint and harmonised work that this technology can assume in the creation of spaces.”

D.lights aims to illustrate the multifunctionality of textile constructions outdoor and indoor, intermediate and mixed spaces. It also reveals the potential to transform the rigorous and static geometry of the patio in an organic space through the membrane of changing lights.

For other projects by Stephanie Chaltiel, click here.

Photos: Stephanie Chaltiel