Fabrice Covelli, Texture and Industrial Designer and Hortus Collaborator worked together with OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture), the Rotterdam-based architecture firm of Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas to design and fabricate a stimulating exterior seating area for the Milstein Hall – a new 47,000 square foot addition including studios, critique spaces, auditorium, gallery and exterior workspace and plaza at Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP). For an exterior seating area on a concrete slope, OMA envisioned the use of a dome seat, with rubber skin and light emitting properties.

To help them solve the challenge of using domed seating in this architectural application, Fabrice applied proprietary casting techniques to the design and fabricate 21 illuminated exterior seating pods by developed a unique solution to secure the pods to the concrete slope using a custom-designed concrete base. 

The versatile design of the seating pods provides a horizontal surface to sit on in any sloping position.

Designers: OMA / Fabrice Covelli

Illuminated Dome Seats:
Translucent Rubber Skin, Acrylic Dome, Concrete Base