During morning hours light filters through small openings high on the eastern facade of The Olive Tree House. The requirement for air to circulate for ventilation during the day resulted in a design where small acrylic pieces slotted together to form a three-dimensional opening. Each acrylic piece was assigned a unique colour shade, and they were distributed gradually from darker to lighter colours across the facade. The colours of mostly reds, purples and yellows were chosen to juxtapose and contrast to the natural hues found in the surrounding landscape, of mostly blue and green. The three-dimensional structure of the shadow device means that, as the sun moves, coloured shadows will overlap each other and the projected coloration will change.
The installation is extremely time-sensitive; it ‘turns on’ with the first morning light at about 6am and ‘turns off’ before midday when the sun has left the east facade. The coloured shadows act as time-keepers, and as playful company during breakfast!
