Luminarium
Hometown Tourism, Photography, Review

Traveling Art: The Exxopolis Luminarium

Luminarium 2013-17

For 20 years now, the Architects of Air have created traveling art pieces known as the Luminarium. Their creations are more well traveled than some travel bloggers I know – visiting over 38 countries and providing extraordinary eye candy for over 2 million visitors.

Architects of Air

Designed by Alan Parkinson and completely made of 9000 PVC pieces, a team in Nottingham England hand cut and glued the pieces together by hand. This creates a piece of artwork that playfully displays colors and architecture together by just using the light that enters this inflatable building.

Architects of Air

Much of the inspiration for the design comes from nature and Islamic architecture. The CUPOLA, or the principal dome (and my favorite part of the installment) has windows that simulate stained glass using the Penrose tiling discovered mathematically by physicist Roger Penrose. If you take the time to stare into the design, many different shapes and patterns will appear.

Architects of AirLuminarium 2013-19

Walking in, I can say that it was close to a religious experience. This year’s piece, called the Exxopolis, took me back to my nostalgic days of Burning Man art installations on the playa. The colors so delicately bounced off the walls; the music was ethereal and perfect; the architecture, sublime.

Traveling Art

Some people had to wait several hours in line to get into the “gallery” for their 20 minutes. I could see why though – it really was inspiring.

Traveling Art

We left floating on air, with smiles permanently attached on our faces. It has been a long time since I had felt this way – like a child looking at the world with wonder.

Traveling Art

Have you been to an art installment that spoke to you? What was it? Where did you see it?

Exxopolis

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Luminarium 2013-13

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14 thoughts on “Traveling Art: The Exxopolis Luminarium”

  1. Wow! I MUST see this! I once waited in line on two different days for several hours (the first day I waited for hours but had to abandon the line so I wouldn’t miss class… what a dedicated student!) in order to see the Zaha Hadid exhibit in Central Park. Totally worth it!

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