Kinematic Bloom is an interactive project designed by Daekwon Park, founder of the web-based Meta-Territory_Studio. The project took shape within the framework of Augmented Architectures course at Harvard Graduate School of Design. The course focused on the idea that spatial experience can be conceived, understood and designed as a series of reactive computational events. The goal of the course was to explore the realms of theory, visualization, design, and production of augmented architecture. It engaged in a critical discussion on the impact that our daily digital experiences have on the perception and expectation of physical experiences.
From a simple source of light, Kinematic Bloom is transformed into an interactive and responsive set of luminaries. Equipped with several sensory mechanisms (sound detection, reaction to light and movement) the structures change shape and level of brightness, depending not only on human movement but also on the proximity of other light sources. The claim of augmentation, which Kinematic Bloom explores, is not to apply sensor technologies to an inert object as a simple overlay, but to shape the entire design process with the idea of integrated systems as a determining factor. The intelligence of design, material and sensor technologies and computation will therefore become combined.