Saturday, November 20, 2010

A bright idea

While in Barcelona, I stayed at Le Meridien on La Rambla. In the lobby next to the elevators was a vase of lilies that were very peculiar; their color changed, pink to white to blue to yellow. Now how did they do that?
Up in the ceiling was a very regular looking little box hidden in the stair opening that threw a slowly changing point of colored light onto the arrangement; So slow that it was barely perceivable. I began to wonder, weren't those flowers pink this morning or am I going crazy? Just another bright idea, sometimes technology IS useful!

10 comments:

pve design said...

That sounds very clever! You are after all far too young to be going crazy!
pve

Acanthus and Acorn said...

Very, very clever! Sadly, I likely would never have looked up and just assumed I "imagined" the change!

Unknown said...

To be honest - I find this idea not clever at all - in my opinion it is the same when natural leaves and blossoms are sprayed with paint - an abomination and a disrespect for natural beauty. It is a shame when people think they can boost up nature's magnificence especially with delicate blossoms. Aren't these eyecatchers for themselves and are we already that much decadent that we cannot appreciate these natural miracels just as they are?

Yuri-Alex Niso said...

The lighting is really lovely but those stairs are pretty fabulous too. After checking out the hotel's website, I say do a post on the whole shebang. They somehow made minimalist design cozy. It's unbelievable.

My Notting Hill said...

Very cool! Great that you figured out the source of the change.

Slim Paley said...

Check out the "finial" on the staircase- it's difficult to see, but it looks like a lion/angel with a pot belly! I bet it gets rubbed a lot for good luck!

I love Barcelona- The Gaudi cathedral is one of the craziest works of architecture I've ever seen. I'd pay to see it sans all the scaffolding, that's for sure.

Best,
SP

Reggie Darling said...

Hello Architect,
I have enjoyed your posts on Barcelona, a city that is now on my "must visit" list. I laughed at this post, in particular. It reminded my of Ingrid Bergman in "Gaslight" -- am I really going crazy? Thanks, Reggie

quintessence said...

Love this idea, especially that the change is slow and subtle. And I'm with Woody, hotel looks fabulous!

Alcira Molina-Ali said...

Oh, sounds sexy...like a subtle mood ring gauging guests soul states.
Alcira

thenerochronicles.blogspot.com

Eric H said...

It's a great idea! Color-changing LED was invented by Color Kinetics where I have visited. I recently saw them for sale at Ikea for home use and this is a great application of the technology.

@Petra - How can you be so offended by dramatic lighting of flowers? Saying it isn't natural beauty doesn't make any sense since those flowers didn't grow there in that lobby. They were picked from nature and arranged there by hand - not due to any "natural miracle". Isn't that just as unnatural as the lighting that enhances them?