Light house: An optical illusion in the desert

Smith clad some of the cabin’s wooden exterior in mirrors that reflect the surrounding light and scenery as it changes throughout the day. The cabin’s windows were also installed with LED lights programmed with an Arduino microcontroller, creating slowly shifting colour blocks that complement the changes in natural lighting.

Lucid Stead combines technology, nature and an adapted structure to create a compelling, sublime space for contemplation that has so far attracted more than 400 into the California desert over two weekends.

‘Lucid Stead is about tapping into the quiet and the pace of change of the desert,’ said Smith in a statement. ‘It reveals that it is about light and shadow, reflected light, projected light and change.’

For more on designers using apparition and illusion to create unfamiliar spaces, see our Futurist Montage design direction.

Philip K Smith III is showing his work at the UNTITLED art fair in Miami this week. Visit our Shows section for a full review of Design Miami/ 2013.