This space is made up of a series of plates and lightboxes perforated by circular shapes turned into light bulbs through LEDs like a series of optical lenses connected within a white and aseptic environment that leads to the Institute.
Description of project by gon architects
OCULUM
Lobby reform for the Institute of Ocular Microsurgery (IMO) in Mirasierra.
OCULUM, the new reception of the Institute of Ocular Microsurgery of Madrid, seeks a link between the worlds of ophthalmology and architecture, that finds and unfolds its spatial narrative around optical devices, such as lenses, photometers, refractometers and microscopes.
OCULUM is designed as a visually technological space which processes, from the generation of the idea to its construction, are completely innovative and handcrafted, being though of and made from a non-existent product on the market, manufactured by a metal worker in an industrial warehouse in the neighborhood of Tetuán, in Madrid.
OCULUM is a continuous system that consists of a 41 by 2.96 meters metallic belt that fits like a glove to the existing space. A continuous enclosure formed by 17 light boxes with a depth of 6 cm and a 4 mm opal white methacrylate in its interior, illuminated by wired and encapsulated led modules with optical lens; all of this, covered by 13 aluminum plates lacquered in a textured 9006 RAL with its front cut out by circular figures.
OCULUM is proposed as an architectural device: a large lantern made up of 1,184 lenses that cast a constant and homogeneous light that expands a and magnifies the lobby, at the same time that surrounds, watches and welcomes the visitors to the ophthalmological center. Because of the reflections, refractions and backlight effects, the notions and limits between interior / exterior, public / private, and inside / outside, are altered in order to achieve a magical atmosphere in the place.
OCULUM is also a tribute to Jean Prouvé’s dream and his tenacious experimental search in the world of prefabrication, to classic Barbarella film by Roger Vadim, starring Jane Fonda under the circular spotlights of film studios and her space-age wardrobe created by Paco Rabanne, as well as to the own architect and fashion creator, with his best geometric designs, that also included circles.
