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Breath Box: A Structure to Activate Your Senses

Breath Box is a waterfront pavilion that was designed to activate your senses as you interact with it. The seaside structure in La Grande Motte, France was designed by NAS architecture for the Festival of Lively Architecture (FAV), an annual architecture festival. The main wall facing the sea is reflective and while it recreates images of the water, it also creates a visual experience as the wind causes the modules to ripple.

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Inside, under the burnt wood slats, your senses are once again brought to life with graphic light patterns that change throughout the day and as the mirrors move.

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The structure lets you actually see the wind’s movement as the modules dance when the wind hits them, interacting with the coastal elements.

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As visitors walk around and experience the box, it’s impossible not to take note of the visuals, the sounds, and the feelings that come when the natural elements, wind and light, hit the ever-changing facets of the structure.

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Photos by Paul Kozlowski.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.