People attending the Winter Olympics in South Korea will get to see the world’s darkest building, a massive pavilion created by a London-based architect that can absorb 99 per cent of the light that hits its surface.
Asif Khan built the 13,000 square foot building for car company Hyundai’s ‘global mobility initiative’ at the Pyeongchang Olympics.
The pavilion, which stands 33 feet tall, made its debut on Saturday in Pyeongchang’s Olympic Park in South Korea.
The 38-year-old architect told Fast Company’s Co.Design the building is a nod to the light and space movement. He described it as a ‘window looking into the depths of outer space’.
London-based architect Asif Khan built the world’s darkest building. It will be displayed at Pyeongchang’s Olympic Park in South Korea
Khan built the pavilion for Hyundai’s ‘global mobility initiative’ for the Pyeongchang Olympics
The building is 13,000 square feet and 33 feet tall and is a nod to the light and space movement
On the outside of the pavilion are thousands of pinpricks of light on the end of rods to resemble stars. The rods are set at different depths to crate an illusion that the viewer is floating in outer space.
Once you enter inside the building, you are met with a crisp, bright white interior where water droplets dart around in little channels built into the floor. Hyundai said the droplets were inspired by ‘individual Hydrogen molecules and the technology behind Hyundai’s new Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicle’.
The exterior of the building, the company told Co.Design ‘represents the Universe– the origin of Hydrogen’.
Khan’s structure will be the first time the ‘blackest black’ has been used on a building.
The color was created by Surrey Nanosystems, an industrial equipment supplier company based in England, after artists and other industry professionals expressed an overwhelming interest in Vantablack, a chemical substance Surrey debuted in 2012 that was initially designed for satellites.
Vantablack is made up of carbon nanotubes that absorb 99.9 per cent of all light. The material is often compared to a black hole.
Khan painted the outside the building with a coating of Vantablack VBx 2 modeled after Vantablack, a chemical substance Surrey Nanosystems debuted in 2012 that was initially designed for satellites
The color is so dark that it’s called the blackest black. It’s the first time it has been used on a building
Vantablack is made up of carbon nanotubes that absorb 99.9 per cent of all light. The material is often compared to a black hole
The highly flammable paint is not available for retail sale and can only be applied by painters trained by Surrey Nanosystems personnel
Once you enter inside the building, you are met with a crisp, bright white interior where water droplets dart around in little channels built into the floor
Once artists and creators started reaching out to Surrey to get their hands on the material, the company launched ‘super black’ coatings, which includes the Vantablack VBx 2 paint Khan used on his building.
‘Vantablack VBx 2 was created for large scale spray application in areas such as architecture, ceiling blackouts, controlled lighting environments and other places where designers wish to create unique visual spaces, or control reflected light in ways that have previously been impossible on a large scale, the company said.
According to Co.Design, the highly flammable paint is not available for retail sale and can only be applied by painters trained by Surrey Nanosystems personnel.