Luminous Forest: Hanoi's Steel Grove Mirrors Sky and Soul

9 hours ago7 min read3 comments

Hanoi's urban core is now home to 'Luminous Forest,' a transformative public artwork that redefines the city's relationship with light and nature. Conceived by artist Tia Thuy Nguyen, the installation is a circular grove of mirror-polished steel branches, acting as a dynamic environmental instrument.It captures the sun's trajectory, fragmenting and scattering light to paint the surrounding area with an ever-evolving tapestry of brilliance and shadow. The sculpture's character shifts with Hanoi's climate: it is a sharp, geometric sun-catcher on clear days, a blurred, impressionistic piece during monsoon rains, and a source of ethereal glow under overcast skies.This chameleonic quality makes it a barometer for the city's atmospheric mood. The use of industrial steel is a deliberate masterstroke, creating a hyper-real counterpart to nature that reflects the sky, architecture, and passersby, thereby reframing the familiar.The circular arrangement evokes ancient symbols of unity, forming a modern sacred grove. It functions as a communal focal point where visitors see their own images fractured among the boughs, prompting introspection on their place within the urban and ecological collective.Following a global trend of interactive environmental art, akin to the work of Olafur Eliasson but rooted in Hanoi's unique spirit, the 'Luminous Forest' offers a daily pocket of wonder. It challenges urban routine and demonstrates how design can actively reshape our experience of space, using light as its pigment and the sky as its canvas. More than a static object, it is an event—a landmark proving that the most captivating visuals are not on screens, but grown from steel and sky in the spaces we share.

#featured

#public art

#installation

#steel sculpture

#mirror

#Hanoi

#Tia Thuy Nguyen

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