Cinimod Studio

Cinimod Studio is a London-based design studio involved in various architecture and lighting design projects. Projects undertaken typically involve a wide mix of media and technologies, and often involve interactive design.

Beginnings

In 2007 architect Dominic Harris founded Cinimod Studio. He had trained at the Bartlett School of Architecture and worked for many years with architecture firms Future Systems and Softroom, and for the interactive design firm Jason Bruges Studio.^[1]

The Studio

Cinimod Studio now operates from a Notting Hill studio. In October 2008, director Dominic Harris was the recipient of the "Breakthrough Talent of the Year" at the FX International Interior Design Awards 2008.^[2] In November 2009, Cinimod Studio was awarded "Best Bar or Restaurant" at the FX International Design Awards 2009^[3]. In March 2010, the studio won further recognition at the Lighting Design Awards 2010, winning "Best Hotel or Restaurant" lighting scheme.^[4]. The studio consists of a multi-disciplinary team of designers that includes architects, product designers, lighting designers and software engineers.

Notable projects

SNOG Pure Frozen Yogurt

Interior view of the first Snog Pure Frozen Yogurt store in London

Cinimod Studio is responsible for the architecture and lighting design for the British company, Snog Pure Frozen Yogurt^[5]. The first store in South Kensington integrates a digital sky feature element made up of over 3,000 LEDs behind a stretched plast ceiling. Displayed on the LED sky are digital clouds, "their colour and speed determined by the time of day."^[6][7][8] The second store in Soho instead features a ceiling lighting installation consisting of 700 globes of individually colour-changing light.^[9] The third location, again designed by Cinimod Studio, is a kiosk at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Shepherd's Bush, London.^[10] A fourth location, by Cinimod Studio, has opened in Covent Garden, London.^[11] A fifth location opened in King's Road, Chelsea, in December 2010. The studio has also been responsible for the international locations, including those in Brazil, Columbia, Dubai, Kuwait and Pakistan.

UFO Project (Peter Coffin)

UFO flight over Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, 2009.

"Untitled (UFO)" is an art project conceived by established New York artist Peter Coffin. Cinimod Studio was hired to realise the project, and produced an innovative structural, technical and electrical design and oversaw the fabrication and assembly. The UFO was publicly shown for the first time at the "Festival Of Stars" in Gdansk, Poland, on 4 July 2008. The object measured 7 metres in diameter and was manufactured of aluminum with 3000 bright and individually controllable Color Kinetics LED nodes arrayed across the structure, controlled via solid state computer. The system was powered by an on-board 6 kW generator and the craft was remotely controlled via SMS messaging. The craft weighed 600 kg, and was controlled during its unveiling flight from a Mi2 helicopter piloted by mountain rescue pilots.^{[7][12][13][14]}

Hoxton Square Exploded Globe

Hoxton Square Exploded Globe light art installation

To celebrate the launch of the new Restaurant and Bar Design Awards, Cinimod Studio was commissioned to create an outdoor interactive lighting installation suspended within the tree canopy over London's famed Hoxton Square.^[15]

Beacon Interactive Art Installation

In January 2009 Cinimod Studio collaborated with artist and designer Chris O'Shea to create an interactive lighting artwork made of modified police beacon lights that responded in realtime to the movement of visitors to the installation space.^[16] The artwork was first exhibited in the Science Gallery in Dublin, Ireland^[17], and then in the Kinetica Art Fair in London, England.^[18]

Itsu "Butterfly In Flight"

Cinimod Studio are responsible for the new "Butterfly in Flight" lighting features that are now appearing in Itsu sushi restaurants across London, UK^[19]. These lighting features consist of sculptured forms of edge-lit acrylic through which computer controlled sequences of coloured LED lights are sequenced, creating the dynamic effect of a butterfly fluttering through the artwork.^[20]

Butterfly in Flight at Itsu Restaurant, Canon Street, London

Flutter

"Flutter" is an interactive artwork by Dominic Harris, the founder and director of Cinimod Studio, that was first exhibited at the Kinetica Art Fair 2010.^[21] It is the detailed study of the movement of a butterfly as if displayed on an un-wrapped zoetrope.^[22]

DJ Light

DJ Light was a large scale Son et lumière project created by Cinimod Studio for Endessa in Lima, Peru, for Christmas 2010. ^[23] It consisted of 85 inflatable globes of light that were individually controllable in both color and lighting intensity. The installation was operated by invited members of the public who would stand on the designated podium. A thermal camera tracked their arm and body movements and via software written in Max Msp software the interactive light and sounds controls were made. ^[24]

Peru National Football Stadium

Cinimod Studio were commissioned to create an interactive lighting control system for the new facade lighting that was part of the 2011 refurbishment program of the Estadio Nacional (Lima), Peru's National Football Stadium. Their design consisted of a sound level monitoring system that was analysed in real-time to determine the mood of the crowd. This analysis was in turn output as lighting patterns across the stadium facade. The system was inaugurated in July 2011 and remains a permanent part of the stadium.^[25]

References

1. ^ Cinimod Studio official site
2. ^ FX Design Awards Results
3. ^ http://www.fxdesignawards.co.uk/previous.htm FX Design Award Results 2009
4. ^ https://www.emapawards.com/lightingdesignawards2010 Lighting Design Awards
5. ^ Tasting the Latest Food Retail Concepts, Design Week website
6. ^ Cinimod Studio Snog project page
7. ^ ^{a b} Lighting Design Goes Aerial, Design Week website.
8. ^ [1] Snog Frozen Yogurt Shop by Cinimod Studio, Dezeen website, 28 June 2008.
9. ^ FX Magazine "Fancy a Snog?" June 2009
10. ^ http://www.mad.co.uk/Main/News/Articlex/f5e5bb9e019d49c0aa80bec4169dcf80/Seeking-shelter.html "Seeking Shelter" Design Week, 20 August 2009.
11. ^ http://www.eatoutmagazine.co.uk/online_article/Frozen-Yoghurt-operator-Snog-secures-fourth-site-in-Covent-Garden/9520 Snog Covent Garden opening soon
12. ^ Cinimod Studio UFO project page
13. ^ Illuminating Table Opens Portal to New Dimension, Doesn't Require LSD, Gizmodo website, 23 June 2008.
14. ^ 3,000 LEDs Create Close Encounters of the SMS Kind, Slipperybrick.com website, 13 July 2008.
15. ^ Cinimod Studio Project Page
16. ^ Beacon Installation Beacon Installation website
17. ^ Creative Review
18. ^ Pixelsumo Review of Kinetica Art Fair
19. ^ http://www.designweek.co.uk/profile-dominic-harris/3005057.article Design Week article, 1 October 2009.
20. ^ http://www.lighting.co.uk/project/show/216 "Butterfly Effect" Lighting Magazine, UK, November 2009.
21. ^ http://www.blueprintmagazine.co.uk/index.php/art/kinetic-art-of-the-future/ "Kinetic Art of the Future" Blueprint Magazine, UK, February 2010.
22. ^ http://www.cinimodstudio.com/flutter "Flutter" on official Cinimod Studio website.
23. ^ http://cinimodstudio.com/project/dj-light/ "DJ Light" on official Cinimod Studio Website.
24. ^ http://www.creativeapplications.net/maxmsp/dj-light-maxmsp/ "DJ Light on Creative Applications website.
25. ^ http://www.lighting.co.uk/projects/crowd-controls/8618922.article "Crowd Controls" Lighting Magazine, UK, September 2011.

External links

• Cinimod Studio official website