Geometry of Light at Farnsworth House by Luftwerk & Iker Gil

Geometry of Light, an art intervention by Luftwerk in collaboration with Iker Gil, was installed at the Mies van der Rohe designed Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois, in October 11-13, 7-10PM, 2019. The art installation coincided with the third edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial.

Geometry of Light projects light and patterns both inside and on the grounds surrounding the Farnsworth House. Presented in concert with a sound-piece developed in direct response to the site by Oriol Tarragó, this intervention will reveal underlying geometries that relate the house to its river floodplain site, topography, and natural landscape.

Geometry of Light was a three-night light and sound installation and intervention in the iconic Farnsworth House and on the surrounding land. Completed in 1951, and opened to the public in 2004, Farnsworth House was the weekend home of Chicago research physician Dr. Edith Farnsworth. This outdoor intervention will uncover the forgotten history of the site and remnants of earlier landscape by revealing the underlying geometries that relate the world-renowned house to its river floodplain site, topography, and key trees that no longer exist.

In concert with the projected light and patterns, a custom-designed sound piece by Oriol Tarragó is integral to this experience. Developed in direct response to the site, this auditory component uses the pitch of the space to create a tonal reading. Together, these elements provide a new interpretation of the Farnsworth House and its extraordinary location.

“Geometry of Light at the Farnsworth House explores the visible and invisible conditions that shape the close relationship between this historic house and the surrounding trees and Fox River,” explains Petra Bachmaier, Sean Gallero of Luftwerk and Iker Gil of MAS Studio. “We are excited to continue the exploration of the work of Mies van der Rohe, initiated at the German Pavilion in Barcelona, and establish a conceptual dialogue between these two exemplary structures of the modern movement."

Geometry of Light premiered in February 2019 at the German Pavilion in Barcelona, designed by Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich. The installation was presented as part of the Fundació Mies van der Rohe’s ongoing program of artistic interventions, also corresponding with the LLUM BCN Festival and the Santa Eulàlia Festival.

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Petra Bachmaier, Sean Gallero. LUFTWERK

Luftwerk is the collaborative vision and artistic practice of Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero. The duo have been working together for over 10 years, creating art installations that merge the elements of light and video with the sculptural aspects of architecture and design. In 2010 Luftwerk was commissioned to create a new media exhibit for Frank Lloyd Wright’s centennial celebration of The Robie House. Since then Bachmaier and Gallero have discovered a resonance with architecture and the experience of space and site, developing several projects that transform architecture into a canvas of light and motion. Their projects open a new dialogue of rediscovery that bridges history and contemporary media of public spaces and landmark structures. Currently they are engaged with The National Trust of Historic Preservation to create an immersive site-specific exhibit for the Farnsworth House in Plano, IL.

Iker Gil

Iker Gil is the founder of MAS Studio, the Editor in Chief of the nonprofit MAS Context, and the Executive Director of the SOM Foundation. He has edited or coedited several books, including Radical Logic: On the Work of Ensamble Studio and Shanghai Transforming.

He has curated multiple exhibitions, including Nocturnal Landscapes, Poured Architecture: Sergio Prego on Miguel Fisac, and BOLD: Alternative Scenarios for Chicago, part of the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial. He was co-curator of Exhibit Columbus 2020–2021 and Associate Curator of the US Pavilion for the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale. He has taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), and the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).

Iker has received several grants and awards for his work, including the 2010 Emerging Visions Award from the Chicago Architectural Club, the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation grants, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts grants, the Ruy de Clavijo grant by Casa Asia, and the PICE grant by AC/E (Acción Cultural Española).

Oriol Tarragó

Oriol Tarragó (Spain, 1976) is a Barcelona-based sound designer. Born into a family of architects, he dedided early on not to follow the family tradition and instead pursue a career that still allowed him to explore his creativity in filmmaking. He graduated from the University of Barcelona School of Film (ESCAC) with documentary Pura (1999), after receiving a scholarship for a six-month stay at Singapore’s Ngee
Ann Polytechnic.

Back in Spain, he worked with Guillermo del Toro on The Devil’s Backbone (2001) and with fellow ESCAC graduate Juan Antonio Bayona on Bayona’s first short films. He then moved to New York, where he studied film postproduction at New York University (NYU), and on to London to work as a sound editor.

He returned to Barcelona to do The Orphanage (2007) with Bayona and began to work for directors such as Jaume Balagueró, Kike Maíllo, Denis Villeneuve or Daniel Monzón, Edmón Roch, as well as for Juan Antonio Bayona’s subsequent films. The sound designer of many Spanish and international films such as [REC] (2007), The Impossible (2012), Enemy (2013) Crimson Peak (2015), Penny Dreadful (2014), Jurassic World: The Fallen Kingdom (2018) he has received  four Goya awards from the Spanish Film Academy, seven Gaudí awards from the Catalan Film Academy and one Golden Reel Award from the Motion Sound Picture Editors (MPSE).

In 2018 he was awarded Best European Sound Designer by the European Film Academy.

He now combines his work in sound postproduction at his own studio Coser y Cantar with his teaching activity at ESCAC and other University of Barcelona programs. He is member of the “Academia de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas of Spain and the Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences of the United States (Academy of Hollywood) and he is also involved in other projects in studios in the U.S., Canada and the U.K