PLAID is an interior art installation that conflates Silicon Valley’s agricultural history with the region’s contemporary technological focus. The PLAID structure is composed of 300 state-of-the-art recycled glass rods connected by 3D-printed nodes.

The glass rods are filled with cabernet, zinfandel, and chardonnay wine from the region, as well as colors that represent the spinach, turmeric, and oyster mushrooms which are some of the most prolific crops grown in Santa Clara County.

The colorful rods are woven together to create a 3-dimensional plaid structure that brings together the culture of the past and the present, high-tech and low-tech materials, to create special effects using liquid and light.

This interior installation speaks to the creative and novel use of recycled, vernacular, industrial materials and how they can be combined with 3D printing and local agricultural materials to create new luminous spatial assemblies for interior design and architecture.

PLAID was located inside the Art Kiosk, a public art space that aims to bring thought provoking installations and public art to Redwood City and the Bay Area through exhibitions by artists working in the Bay Area.

PROJECT DATE: 2023

PROJECT TEAM: Virginia San Fratello, Mattias Rael, Ronald Rael, Cody Glen

PHOTOGRAPHY: Matthew Millman