How to Build a Sphere Out of Cubes, 2018 – Studio Olafur Eliasson

Each form is an open geometric structure sitting at opposite ends of an elliptical lawn, defining an open, public space on campus. Each form is a light structure in brushed stainless steel: the one is a human-sized cube from which one corner has been removed; the other is a pavilion-scaled stellated polyhedron made from sixty identical modules. The cubic sculpture is the basis for the spherical work. By providing viewers with an opportunity to understand the geometry of the more complex form across the lawn, the cubic form becomes a way to help viewers understand the spherical one. While the triangular mirror cutting across the cube's missing corner suggests one side of the module, the mirror triangles in the sphere are all identical, which means that in the sphere, viewers can find the relationship between the two forms by mapping the two mirror faces onto each other.

Research:
For the mathematical analysis it was important to address the relationship between cubic and spherical forms and the modular system that constructs a stellated polyhedron from sixty identical units. The triangular mirror elements in each module link the two structures visually: the same triangle that cuts the cube's missing corner recurs as one face of each module in the sphere.