The Glaciarium is an interactive instrument that engages a smaller group of users’ senses through the sight and sound of a melting ice core. The influence of the individual viewer is linked directly to the materiality and sensation of the project. Increased observation amplifies the internal lighting effects and, depending on the duration of interaction, dramatically accelerates the melting of the ice core rendering the environmental degradation visceral and real. 

Date: 2009
Location: Van Alen Institute, New York, NY
Design: Jason Kelly Johnson & Nataly Gattegno
Team: Thomas Kelley, Carrie Norman, Troy Rogers, Ed Yung
Collaborative Sponsor:  University of Michigan TCAUP Research Through Making Grant, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts Grant, Columbia University Avery CNC Fabrication Lab, NYC College of Technology