In this immersive installation, Indian design studio The Architecture Story presents a multi-layered experience that celebrates an ancient mirror making process. The installation is intended to create a heightened perception of the immediate environment through the mirrors and the modular framework that holds them. 

The work has been conceived for the London Design Festival as a celestial enclave, an urban nest. The installation consists of a modular framework of thin interconnected profiles clustered together to create a celestial form. This forms the framework to present the magical mirrors, celebrating an ancient hand crafted first-surface mirror making process from South India called ‘Aranmula Kannadi’. The metallic mirror surfaces scattered throughout the installation are polished to different degrees, presenting different degrees of focus to the viewer. 

We use the ‘Aranmula Kannadi’ as conceptual starting point for the design. It is a node from which to critically engage with the cultural and social context—through our design process we present a form of storytelling through the installation.

Responding to the district theme of Journeys, the Celestial Nest, traces the journey of multi-generational craft. Here we invite the viewers to think about a different kind of sustainability, the sustainability of craft.