Designed in Hackney: this installation by Hackney studio Troika creates overlapping pools of light on the floor like raindrops falling on water.

Commissioned by Swarovski Crystal Palace, the Falling Light installation is currently on show at the Victoria & Albert museum in London as part of British Design 1948-2012: Innovation in the Modern Age, presenting the evolution of design in Britain from the 1948 Olympics up to the present day.

50 mechanical devices on the ceiling each incorporate a Swarovski crystal optical lens, a computer programmed motor and a white LED.

Each metal arm is raised on a cam then allowed to fall, turning the LED on and quickly moving it closer to the lens, which acts as a prism to spread a rainbow on the floor.

Other projects by Troika on Dezeen include Newton Virus, a non-destructive application that makes your desktop icons roll around as if affected by gravity, and chandeliers that use large fresnel lenses to shape the light from LEDs into overlapping geometric patterns on the ceiling of the Royal Society of Arts. They also created the exhibition inside Thomas Heatherwick's UK pavilion for the Shanghai Expo 2010.

Troika was founded by Conny Freyer, Sebastien Noel and Eva Rucki. Their studio is by the canal on Laburnham Street.

Designed in Hackney map:

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Key:

Blue = designers
Red = architects
Yellow = brands

See a larger version of this map

Designed in Hackney is a Dezeen initiative to showcase world-class architecture and design created in the borough, which is one of the five host boroughs for the London 2012 Olympic Games as well as being home to Dezeen’s offices. We’ll publish buildings, interiors and objects that have been designed in Hackney each day until the games this summer.

More information and details of how to get involved can be found at www.designedinhackney.com.