An unusual art installation by a Polish artist has been hung in the heart of Dubai Mall. The installation by Edyta Barańska of Barańska Design consists of hundreds of glass forms resembling birds suspended under a huge glass dome. From the first glance, the whole delights with subtlety and lightness, leading the eye towards the sky and the majestic Burj Khalifa skyscraper.
The story of the project began a few years ago when Edyta Baranska was approached by Art in Public Space, the company responsible in Dubai for introducing artworks into public spaces. When the developer Emaar Properties, owner of Dubai Mall, decided to revitalise one of the historic domes in The District zone, the question arose about a unique installation that would highlight the luxury and modernity of the place. Several studios from around the world entered the competition.
“We proposed fused glass, in delicate, organic forms reminiscent of birds. We prepared prototypes and showed them at a meeting with the designer responsible for the aesthetics of the Dubai Mall space,” recalls Edyta Barańska. It was this idea that won the investor’s favour.
Fusing glass as a form language
At the heart of the project is fusing glass – a material that Edyta Barańska has been working with for more than two decades. This technique involves forming glass at high temperatures on special open moulds. “It is a process in which glass falls onto a pre-prepared mould. Importantly, it is not a technique that allows closed forms to be created. It can only be used to create shapes that can be removed from the mould after firing – in other words, the mould must always be open,” explains the artist.
Four sizes of birds were created using fusing, with spans of 60, 40, 30 and 20 centimetres. Each wing is distinguished by its delicate, wrinkled texture and irregular shape, which made it possible to achieve a shimmering and deep effect with the changing light. As a result, the installation is ‘alive’ – it reflects and refracts the sun’s rays and, in artificial lighting, shimmers in shades of gold and bronze.
The play of light and air movement
The project was based on a careful selection of exhibition times, with the most spectacular effects of natural light occurring between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. This is when the sun falls on the glazed dome at the perfect angle, highlighting the undulating structure of the glass and generating reflections that dance to the rhythm of passing moments. After dark, the installation is illuminated by ceiling spotlights, side lamps and hidden LEDs, which transform the bird cloud from a delicate, almost natural form into a spectacle of light and shadow.
Initially, it was feared that the active air-conditioning system would upset the suspended elements. “It seemed that air movement would interfere, that the birds would move uncontrollably. And in the meantime… we created a mobile installation completely by accident,” says Edyta Baranska. In the centre of the dome, surrounded by vents, a vortex of air is created, which sets the central elements in subtle motion. “The whole composition begins to swirl gently, which creates an unusual effect – as if birds were really flying. It wasn’t planned, but it came out phenomenally,” adds the designer.
Precision of assembly and engineering challenges
Suspending almost a tonne of glass and a tonne of truss under the 24-metre high dome required advanced engineering. The artist’s initial technical drawing went to the Atorial team from Gliwice, led by Bartłomiej Minor, Eng. “One of the biggest challenges was the structure on which the entire installation was to hang, as the dome is as high as 24 metres and the longest of the birds measures 8 metres. It was 4.5 metres to the floor, and we were hanging everything at a height of about 13-14 metres, just above the air-conditioning system,” – explains Baranska.
Over the course of six consecutive nights, the team assembled further elements without interrupting the centre’s work. Special cranes, winches and scaffolding were used, and minor adjustments had to be made after each session: “After each night’s assembly, corrections had to be made, suspensions had to be corrected, the whole thing had to be balanced in order to arrive at the perfect layout,” the artist reports. During the work, Baranska admits: “Literally the World Championship – we mounted these birds in six nights.”
Polish studio on the world stage
The ‘Cloud of Birds’ project may be the world’s largest realisation in the fusing technique and, at the same time, the first such elaborate work by a Polish studio in the space of Dubai Mall. In this way, Polish design proves that it is equally capable of drawing on craftsmanship and setting new artistic directions.
“It is glass that creates a unique visual effect – it lives in the light, reflects it, refracts it, introduces dynamics and emotion. And it seems to me that this approach very much distinguishes this realisation from other projects present in the region” – Edyta Barańska emphasises.
source: press materials
photos: Artur Walczewski
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