SINGAPORE. Changi Airport Group (CAG) has unveiled a new art installation in the Departure Check-in Hall of Terminal 1 to mark the recent refurbishment of Changi Airport’s oldest terminal.
Titled Kinetic Rain, this specially commissioned sculpture comes as a pair, each installed several metres apart from each other and visible from many areas of the revamped Departure Check-in Hall.
Kinetic Rain is made up of 1,216 bronze droplets that transform into multiple shapes, akin to ‘poetry in motion’, CAG said. Carrying an aviation theme, the key element in every shape shows the movement of flight through slow, fluid movements. Some of the more recognisable shapes include an aeroplane, hot air balloon and a kite. One can also make out a dragon and a flock of birds among the 16 different programmed segments.
Each droplet is connected to motors installed in the ceiling of the Departure Check-in Hall. The motors contain a high precision rotary encoder which keeps track of the exact position of each droplet. A computer programme is used to control the movement of the droplets to form Kinetic Rain’s unique shapes and patterns.
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Kinetic Rain is made up of 1,216 bronze droplets that transform into multiple shapes based on an aviation theme |
Kinetic Rain, claimed as a first in an airport globally, was created over a span of 20 months. Artists, programmers and technologists were engaged to analyse the space available at T1 and conceptualise a ‘masterpiece’ that would be representative of the new terminal. The refurbished T1 is aptly themed ‘Tropical City’ in keeping with Singapore’s Garden City status and where rain is very much a part of the tropical climate.
Changi Airport Group Airport Operations Senior Vice President Yeo Kia Thye said: “When we decided to upgrade T1 in 2008, we were mindful that people have fond memories of the terminal, including the old Mylar Cords, the circular curtain of water that straddled three stories of the building. We wanted an art sculpture – which we found in Kinetic Rain – that was able to add the signature touch linking back to T1’s illustrious past in a new and exciting way.
“With more than a thousand raindrops working together in harmony, Kinetic Rain also symbolises the thousands in the airport community who work together every day to provide our passengers and visitors with a positively surprising and memorable Changi Experience.”
An audio commentary and official video are also available for visitors who wish to know more about Kinetic Rain. All they have to do is scan the QR code present at the display boards at the T1 Departure Check-in Hall with their smartphones.
NOTE: The renovation of Changi Airport’s T1 was featured in our special publication to celebrate the airport’s 30th anniversary. Titled Changi Airport: 30 years of excellence, the digital version of the book can be viewed here.
A video on the making of Kinetic Rain can be viewed above on YouTube |
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