Designer Najla El Zein just released these new photos of The Wind Portal, a beautiful installation that’s currently showing at the London Design Festival 2013. Made up of 5,000 paper windmills that spin to an integrated wind system, the installation has an architectural shape that creates a trompe l’oeil effect. Depending on where you stand, the gate appears to be closed. As you approach it, however, the gate seems as if it magically opens up for you.
The hand-folded paper windmills are accompanied by a complex wind and light system that’s computerized. As the artist states, “Different flows of wind are programmed resulting into different speeds, sounds and feelings. The light, which seems to play with the wind flow, gives us an impression of a breathing piece. Indeed, the gate breathes in and out, where wind is its main source of life.”
Najla El Zein’s website
Photos: Najla El Zein