Split Views
Hotel AX, Helsinki
2022
Mirror polished, perforated and edged stainless-steel panels, stainless-steel supporting structures,
DMX-controlled LED spotlights, computer | 12.0 x 0.35 x 0.35 m
Spilt Views is a lightweight facade for the new Art Hotel in Helsinki. It was made in close
collaboration with
SARC Architects, the designer of the building. Besides this large semi-transparent relief, there are smaller
scale works by several artists displayed both inside and outside of the building.
The L-shaped facade is made of polished, perforated and vertically edged stainless-steel panels. The panels
are connected on a supporting stainless-steel structure, 1.2 meters in front of the concrete facade of the
building. Those parts of the edged facade panels which are parallel with the concrete facade are densely
perforated, allowing a view out of the hotel room windows. The parts which are diagonal or perpendicular with
the concrete facade behind are mirror polished.
The reflective facades, facing north and east, are in constant state of change due to weather conditions, time
of the day and time of the year. When one looks at the facade along the street it only reflects its
surroundings, but when one looks straight towards it, one can see the concrete facade and windows behind loom
through it.
During nighttime the facade is illuminated with narrow beam white LED spotlights placed in each groove of the
facade panels. The LED spotlights are dimmable through DMX-protocol, allowing to create delicate changes on
the surface of the facade.
The stainless steel facade was mounted during winter 2020 / spring 2021, because the hotel was originally supposed to
open in the autumn. However, due to problems caused by Covid-19 pandemic, the opening was delayed until spring
2022.