Shylights: Beautiful Unfolding Kinetic Lights That Bloom like Flowers

Several types of flowers are known to open and close for reasons of defense or energy conservation. This evolutionary mechanism, called nyctinasty, inspired Studio DRIFT to design the Shylight, a kinetic light fixture that opens dramatically during a 30 foot (9 meter) fall. The motion mimics the same action of a blooming flower or the billowing of a parachute. A collection of Shylights were just permanently installed at Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and you can see them in action in the video above. (via Prosthetic Knowledge)