A crystalline surface suspended above the entrance refracts light into shifting bands of color that change with every step. As visitors pass beneath it, what first reads as a solid form gradually reveals itself as a responsive field shaped by movement, proximity, and light.

Spectralline occupies the entrance of the 21c Museum Hotel in Lexington, Kentucky, establishing a sharp contrast with the renovated McKim, Mead & White building that surrounds it. The installation appears to grow from one corner of the room and stretch upward toward the ceiling, embedding itself within the architecture rather than standing apart from it.

Fabricated from laser-cut aluminum and clad in dichroic acrylic, the structure transforms circulation into an active component of the experience. Color is never fixed; facets brighten, darken, and shift hue depending on angle and ambient light. During the day, reflected color subtly washes across surrounding walls and floors, allowing the space to register movement without relying on animation.

At night, integrated LEDs illuminate the structure from within, turning it into a luminous lantern visible from the street. Color radiates outward through the crystalline geometry, signaling arrival while remaining in constant flux.

Through light, reflection, and form, Spectralline reshapes the act of entry into an immersive moment—one that bridges historic architecture and contemporary intervention, and treats perception itself as the primary material.

Photographs: Edward Heavrin