Objects
CRIOSFERA
In the spot-light
Invited to design a light for Artemide, the interdisciplinary studio UNA / UNLESS developed “IN THE SPOT-LIGHT” a project which literally puts “in the spotlight” two entities, crucial yet neglected, which exist at the two scales in which the studio operates, namely at the scale of the building and at the scale of the planet.
CRIOSFERA, the cryosphere, encompasses all components of the Earth System that are frozen. 90% of such ice is in Antarctica; it constitutes at the same time both the largest planetary archive and the greatest threat to global coastal settlements, threatened by the increase of sea level rise induced by anthropogenic climate change. The melting of Antarctica alone would increase the sea level rise by 60m launching the largest migration ever witnessed by humanity. That same ice is the largest repository of data on our climate history. It is a time capsule that enables scientists to trace the climatic history of our planet, extracting from captive air bubbles trends of CO2, greenhouse gasses and temperature from past glacial and interglacial eras.
The quintessential marker of climate change is thus the Ice Core, a cylinder of stratified ice extracted from the depths of our planet’s ice sheets, which contains the data we need to inform undeferrable environmental policies, and the very matter that can lead to our oblivion.
The Ice Core thus becomes the element that creates awareness and calls to action. The object that enlightens on the importance of Antarctica, on the need to define an equitable governance and data-sharing policy for our Global Commons, and on the urgency of embracing decarbonisation.
Abandoning its frozen form, the Ice Core of CRIOSFERA consists of a layering of blown recycled glass, a riveted optic core that learns from the refractive nature of the ice surface of the Antarctic plateau to maximise the diffusion of light, and an inner core of LED lights that – by means of their spacing – evokes the stratification of the polar ice.
Scientific devices used in the continent to extract and analyse ice cores inform the design of an independent set of devices upon which CRIOSFERA can be placed to inhabit the space as an autonomous, evocative, object.
Markers engraved on the devices indicate the CO2 levels that correspond to each section of the Ice Core. Scored monochrome on the tools, pre-industrial values proved to be consistently within norm, whilst the values of CO2 recorded in ice stratified post-industrialisation, engraved in orange, reflect the state of planetary instability and inequality induced by anthropogenic climate crisis. The unprecedented high value of CO2 recorded in 2024 of 422 ppm stands as an ultimatum that we, collectively, urgently need to contribute to decarbonisation in order to retain the global temperature below the 1.5 degrees Celsius set by the Paris Agreement and safeguard life on Planet Earth for all species.
CRIOSFERA is thus not “just” a light. It is a resolution, a manifesto of our times. One that is imbued with optimism that we will, individually and collectively, defend intergenerational justice.
Lights on. It’s action time.
Download Press Release here.
Photo Credits
Artemide © Pierpaolo Ferrari
Artemide © Federico Villa
CRIOSFERA, the cryosphere, encompasses all components of the Earth System that are frozen. 90% of such ice is in Antarctica; it constitutes at the same time both the largest planetary archive and the greatest threat to global coastal settlements, threatened by the increase of sea level rise induced by anthropogenic climate change. The melting of Antarctica alone would increase the sea level rise by 60m launching the largest migration ever witnessed by humanity. That same ice is the largest repository of data on our climate history. It is a time capsule that enables scientists to trace the climatic history of our planet, extracting from captive air bubbles trends of CO2, greenhouse gasses and temperature from past glacial and interglacial eras.
The quintessential marker of climate change is thus the Ice Core, a cylinder of stratified ice extracted from the depths of our planet’s ice sheets, which contains the data we need to inform undeferrable environmental policies, and the very matter that can lead to our oblivion.
The Ice Core thus becomes the element that creates awareness and calls to action. The object that enlightens on the importance of Antarctica, on the need to define an equitable governance and data-sharing policy for our Global Commons, and on the urgency of embracing decarbonisation.
Abandoning its frozen form, the Ice Core of CRIOSFERA consists of a layering of blown recycled glass, a riveted optic core that learns from the refractive nature of the ice surface of the Antarctic plateau to maximise the diffusion of light, and an inner core of LED lights that – by means of their spacing – evokes the stratification of the polar ice.
Scientific devices used in the continent to extract and analyse ice cores inform the design of an independent set of devices upon which CRIOSFERA can be placed to inhabit the space as an autonomous, evocative, object.
Markers engraved on the devices indicate the CO2 levels that correspond to each section of the Ice Core. Scored monochrome on the tools, pre-industrial values proved to be consistently within norm, whilst the values of CO2 recorded in ice stratified post-industrialisation, engraved in orange, reflect the state of planetary instability and inequality induced by anthropogenic climate crisis. The unprecedented high value of CO2 recorded in 2024 of 422 ppm stands as an ultimatum that we, collectively, urgently need to contribute to decarbonisation in order to retain the global temperature below the 1.5 degrees Celsius set by the Paris Agreement and safeguard life on Planet Earth for all species.
CRIOSFERA is thus not “just” a light. It is a resolution, a manifesto of our times. One that is imbued with optimism that we will, individually and collectively, defend intergenerational justice.
Lights on. It’s action time.
Download Press Release here.
| Project Title: | Criosfera |
| Year: | Completed |
| Client: | Artemide |
| Designer: | Giulia Foscari, UNA / UNLESS |
| UNA / UNLESS Team: | Giulia Foscari, Alessandro Gatti, Federica Zambeletti, Olympia Simopoulou, Francesca Benetti Genolini. |
Artemide © Pierpaolo Ferrari
Artemide © Federico Villa
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