Rhythm of Place

Silver Winner in the 2024 Best Design Awards in the 'Student and Academic Spatial' category. A sculptural light installation located on the coast of Island Bay, ‘Rhythm's of Place’ is an instrument of connection to narratives of place - past, present and future. Viewports to archaeological sites of precolonial inhabitation offer windows to past landscapes. Sensors capture tidal fluctuations, which play across the structure as differing intensities of light. Floating sections of the walkway rise and fall with the waves and tide, translating the movement of water into embodied sensation. The installation becomes a body for the whenua and moana to tell their own stories, attuning us to the intangible qualities of the site. The installation can be further activated by knowledge holders such as mana whenua storytellers and archaeologists, affording a deeper engagement through layers of space and time.