Where Paths Meet

See the ceiling change and shift as you walk through Hogarth Court in our new interactive piece.

Take a step forward and a tile lifts away underfoot, as if the pattern is falling open just for you. Stop, and the effect widens, spreading further across the grid the longer you stay.

Stay a little longer still, and the space itself begins to change. The soundscape shifts from a low, meditative drone into softer, more natural tones as more people linger and look up. A second, more abstract shape starts to emerge beneath the grid, visible only to those patient enough to wait for it. It’s designed to feel passive as much as interactive, rewarding people who pause rather than just pass through. The effect is most striking when groups leave the lifts from The Garden at 120 and scatter into the space, sending trailing, tendril-like patterns rippling out across the grid behind them.

The technology behind it

None of this is triggered by cameras. The piece is powered by lidar sensors installed above Fen Court, which send out beams of light and read how they bounce back to build a live picture of the space below. Algorithms then use that data to work out where people are and how they’re moving, without ever capturing or storing an image of anyone. The system only ever knows how many people are present and how they’re moving.

That data feeds directly into the screen above, letting the canvas respond to footfall and movement in real time, rather than simply playing a fixed sequence of media on a loop. Where Paths Meet is the first piece built to use this new capability.

See it for yourself

The best way to understand Where Paths Meet is to experience it. Visit Fen Court between 1st and 18th October, walk beneath the canvas, slow down, and look up.