Hive at the National Building Museum

Our lighting design for the National Building Museum’s exhibit “The Hive” was a close collaboration with Studio Gang, providing a lighting design for three continuous domes crafted entirely out of 2,700 wound construction paper tubes. Each room within the dome was fitted with tubular instruments, which when played within the room’s unique acoustic conditions provided a sensory exploration of auditory and visual perspectives. With an unobtrusive and eloquent design, our lighting heightened and enhanced the visitor experience.

Before beginning our design process, we conducted a careful exploration of the exhibit’s lighting needs, generating a 3D model for further research. We finally landed upon the utilization of a shipping tube that would hold a Ketra LED bulb, making it easy to control the color and vibrancy of the lights without the use of wires. Our solution allowed the lights to be installed directly inside the tubes, complementing the aesthetic and seamlessly bringing an effective and transformative illumination to the exhibit.