A new backdrop for the Art Deco lobby of 315 Montgomery Street in San Francisco, Stratus introduces an atmospheric animation of light behind the building’s security desk. Visible from the street twenty-four hours a day, the installation brings a slow, breathing presence into the ornate interior, where subtle movement contrasts with architectural solidity. Rather than asserting itself as an object, light behaves as an ambient condition—softening the transition between sidewalk and interior.

Stratus is composed of a layered array of brass tubes whose restraint contrasts with the decorative richness of the early twentieth-century setting. Each tube is punctuated by cloud-like laser-cut apertures, introducing porosity into the rigid geometry. From a distance the surface reads as calm and continuous; up close, it reveals depth and variation.

Each tube contains a custom LED and diffuser assembly programmed with subtle sequences that simulate airflow. Arranged in staggered layers, the tubes give the animated light depth as illumination reflects across neighboring elements. The installation feels less like a static wall and more like a slow, living system.

During the day, the brass registers as a sculptural presence embedded in the lobby wall. At night, the material recedes and light appears to flow through the surface itself, dissolving the boundary between wall and volume. Through restrained animation and reflection, Stratus establishes a quiet dialogue between historic architecture and contemporary intervention—allowing light to become the primary material of an interior that remains luminous and alive around the clock.