Harmonic Tides: 3D-Printed Installation at Clerkenwell

Exterior design · Public installation · London · 2025

Harmonic Tides is a pair of illuminated, undulating 3D-printed walls installed beneath the historic St John’s Gate for Clerkenwell Design Week 2025. Designed by Mamou-Mani, the installation was fabricated locally by Fab.Pub from sugar-based PLA bioplastic.

Sound translated into geometry

The work reimagines a wave as a sound frequency rather than a literal movement of water. Its layered form, synchronised lighting and ambient soundscape create a space for slowing down and experiencing the surrounding city differently.

Fab.Pub 3D-printed the patterned components in East London, bringing material selection, production planning and full-scale additive manufacturing into a public cultural installation. The project reused and reconfigured modules developed through earlier research, including Altostrata, demonstrating the value of adaptable kit-of-parts construction.

Fabrication for a second life

Developed following the winning proposal in Dezeen’s Shaping Water competition with Villeroy & Boch and Ideal Standard, Harmonic Tides builds on the ability to reuse architectural components across different sites and experiences.

Credits

Design: Mamou-Mani Architects
Fabrication: Fab.Pub, including Vijayalakshmi Vijayappan, Ariane McCormack Jones, Paris Lau, Giovanni Panico and Antoine Proust
Lighting: Doug Stokes and Ariane McCormack Jones
Sound: Emily Avery
Competition: Dezeen Shaping Water, with Villeroy & Boch and Ideal Standard

Read the full Mamou-Mani project and gallery, or speak to Fab.Pub about a large-scale project.