LlumBcn - DATANET
Interactive Light Organism
Client: LlumBcn
Design director: Areti Markopoulou, Silvia Brandi, Luis Fraguada
Physical computing: Guillem Camprodon, Alexandre Dubor
Lightining engineering: Pablo Martinez
Computational design: Rodrigo Aguirre
Fabrication: Anastasia Pistofidou, Rodrigo Aguirre
In partnership with Fab Lab Barcelona
And in collaboration with Relco Lighting
Overview
In the heart of Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, IAAC planted DATA NET—a new, artificial tree—within the courtyard of the Museu Frederic Marès. Conceived for the Llum BCN Festival of Light 2014, the installation formed a responsive mesh canopy that completed the geometry of the existing six trees, creating an immersive, living environment.
DATA NET is more than a sculptural lighting piece—it’s a prototype for urban interaction. From the base of a symbolic, non-existent tree, a reflective polyethylene mesh rises and stretches above the courtyard, anchoring to the surrounding façades. This semi-transparent surface reflects light, people, and architecture, turning the courtyard into a dynamic scenography.
Designed as a tangible interface for citizens’ data, the project explores how cities can become sentient—organisms that sense, process, and respond to the flows within them. DATA NET captures the invisible: the presence, movement, and density of visitors. Using motion-tracking sensors (Kinect) and blob detection software, it registers each visitor’s location in real time, generating local data. This data is processed and sent to a custom DMX-controlled lighting system that modulates over 100 LEDs embedded in the mesh.
Architecture That Breathes
The result is a spatial experience in constant transformation. Light intensity shifts as visitors move and gather; the more people engage with the installation, the brighter and more vibrant it becomes. In some versions of the system, the structure itself reacts—subtly tensing and reshaping in response to crowd dynamics, as if breathing with the rhythm of the courtyard.
A Participatory Space
Visitors are not mere spectators—they are co-creators. By simply being present, they shape the atmosphere and perception of the space. DATA NET invites people to reflect—literally and metaphorically—on their role within the city and its systems of information.
