asif khan’s pavilion for the 2018 winter olympics is said to be ‘the darkest building on earth.’ coated in layers of vantablack VBx2, the building absorbs more than 99% of the light that hits it, creating a beautifully deceiving illusion.
the exterior appears flat, but it isn’t. it’s quite curved. rods of different lengths — holding small lights — jut out of the parabolic pavilion, toward the viewer, like distant stars. at this scale, each inch could represent a lightyear. the vantablack pigment. asif khan’s execution. together, they’ve made a simple, near-perfect ethereum of stars for olympic attendees to wonder at, in south korea. it may be the closest thing to space we have to visually experience on earth.
from designboom