INTERNATIONAL water feature specialist Crystal played a key role in the design of the ‘World Voices’ sculpture at the residential entrance lobby at Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai.

Crystal assisted Jaume Plensa in the design of the water elements of the installation envisioned by the contemporary Catalan artist. Cast in bronze and brass alloy, plated with 18-carat gold and finished by hand, the cymbals are suspended onto titanium rods anchored at the bottom of two pools, evoking reeds in a lake. The cymbals create a distinct timbre as they are gently struck by water dropping from the ceiling, which the artist compares to the sound of water falling on leaves.

Crystal developed custom technology that created the right size, volume, and control of the droplets that fall approximately 60 ft from the atrium’s gold-leaf ceiling onto 18 of the gold cymbals. The droplets fall through 25-mm-diameter openings in the ceiling, and create a natural rhythm as they make contact with the cymbals below.

Crystal senior associate Rob Mikula said: “It sounds like a simple idea, and in fact it looks simple, but to generate the right sound at the time intervals dictated by the artist, was challenging.”