Now on view through October 13, 2025
Mood-vironment
An interactive light sculpture by Mona Ghandi
Mona Ghandi’s Mood-vironment is an interactive installation that provides a dynamic immersive atmosphere through the interactive color-changing effect. It will emphasize the role of emotions as a fundamental part of the collective identity, especially at a time when our urban environments are suffering from a lack of emotional expressions. Mood-vironment positions user presence and expression at the very center of its socially responsive space, relying on viewer participation and emotions to complete the artwork. The sculpture is made from wood, fabric, and interactive lighting systems, will be 20’W x 20’L x 11’H large, and will be installed at the intersection of Rt18 and Union Street in Downtown New Bedford, attracting waterfront visitors and recreating the environment for residents.
This outdoor sculpture is now on view through October 13, 2025 at the bottom of Union Street in downtown New Bedford. Stay tuned to learn more as the project unfolds and we near the artwork’s debut. Images displayed on this webpage are artistic rederings and the artwork design may evolve as it is being produced by the artist as a normal occurance in the artistic process.
About Mona Ghandi
Mona Ghandi is an architect, researcher, and educator who graduated from the University of California, Berkeley. As an Associate professor of architecture and the director of the Morphogenesis Lab, she specializes in Emotive and Performative Intelligent Architecture, intertwining architecture with fields like computer science, neuroscience, psychology, and material science. Her work focuses on using AI, machine learning, affective computing, and robotics to create adaptive, inclusive, and sustainable architectural solutions. Her interdisciplinary research aims to revolutionize how we perceive and interact with our surroundings, addressing crucial topics like well-being, social justice, and environmental sustainability in design.
Living through a period of time like the pandemic, during which separation and the avoidance of touch were forced upon us, safe spaces like “Mood-vironment” will offer a welcoming, engaging sculpture that will encourage social cohesion. Mona Ghandi’s “Mood-vironment” will emphasize the role of emotions as a fundamental part of the collective identity, especially at a time when our urban environments are “suffering from a devaluation of emotional expressions” in their sociopolitical sphere. “Mood-vironment” positions user presence and expression at the very center of its socially responsive space, essentially relying on viewer participation to complete the artwork. Through this interactive system, Mood-vironment offers a new form of public art where technology, art, and people of all backgrounds, ages, and socioeconomic status can interact to reconceptualize a collective identity.
Mona Ghandi, “Mood-vironment” (rendering credit: Morphogenesis Lab, Mohammad Tabatabaei Manes, Mona Ghandi)
Mona Ghandi’s work has been recognized with several national and internatonal prestigious awards such as the Design Educates Awards, World Architecture Award, Architizer A+Awrad in Architecture+ New Technology, LAKA competition, and the prestigious Vilcek Award for Creative Promise in Architecture; this prestigious award is given annually to encourage and support emerging to mid-career immigrant artists and scientists who have demonstrated exceptional achievements early in their careers, which can have lasting contributions to American society.
Her work was exhibited in different national and international exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Bellevue Arts Museum, Melbourne Design, Latrobe Regional Gallery Hub, AIA Spokane Award Gala, Design Educates Awards, and Lewis-Clark State College Center for Arts & History. Her work has been published in numerous global publications and books such as Interactive Design: Towards a Responsive Environment book, The World’s Best Architecture book, Design Educates book, International Journal of Architectural Computing, Cogent Education Journal, Journal of Digital Landscape Architecture, and has also been presented and published in major design national and international conferences. The outcome of her work was featured in many news outlets such as the New York Times, 1889 Washington Magazine, Architectural Record, Architizer, Archinect, Bustler, Designboom, ACSA, AIA, Inlander, and Spokesman-Review to name a few.
Learn more about Mona Ghandi’s projects through her social media and website.
Mood-Vironment Team & Collaborators:
Mona Ghandi | Associate Professor of Architecture at Washington State University, Director of Morphogenesis Lab
Principal Investigator (PI), Head of Design, Fabrication, and Programming, Project Manager, Project Director
Ramtin Haghnazar | Assistant Professor of Architecture at Virginia Tech, Affiliate Faculty of the Center for Design Research at Virginia Tech, Co-Founder of Dahi Studio
Co-PI, Collaborator, Project Manager, Head of Fabrication, Installation, and Structural Team, Computational Design and Digital Fabrication Lead
Mohammad Taba | Researcher at Morphogenesis Lab, PhD in Building Technology at the University of Washington
Collaborator, Project Manager Assistant, Design Lead, Head of Interactive Team, AI, Programming and Machine Learning, Structural and Interactive Installation Team Member
Behrang Chaichi | Senior Computational Design Specialist, Researcher at Morphogenesis Lab
Head of Computational Design Team, Computational Analysis, Coding and Programming, Digital Design and Fabrication Team Member
Foad Beheshti | PhD Student in Electrical Engineering at Washington State University
Hardware, Circuit, and Board Design Lead, Electrical Engineering and Interactive Team Member, Electrical Development and Installation
Aleia Gerhardt | Undergraduate Student at Washington State University, Shop Assistant at Frank Innovation Zone
Electrical Design and Development Lead, Electrical Engineering and Interactive Team Member, Electrical Development and Installation
Yasaman Ashjazadeh | PhD Student at Virginia Tech, Affiliated Researcher at the Center for Design Research
Assembly and Installation Lead, Digital Fabrication Team Member
Marcus Ryan Wagner | Undergraduate Student in Electrical Engineering at Washington State University
Electrical Engineering and Interactive Team Member, Board and Electrical Development and Installation
Sida Dia | Assistant Professor of Architecture at Virginia Tech
Physical Computing Lead and Consultant, AI, Programming, and Machine Learning, Interactive Team Collaborator
Amirreza Taghvaie | Graduate Student at Art University of Isfahan
Graphic and Presentation Lead, Documentation
Alireza Karami | Graduate Student in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Tehran
Structural Analysis and Simulation
Mood-vironment is being made possible by:
Mood-vironment is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts “CHALLENGE AMERICA” Grant. This project is also supported by the New Bedford Economic Development Council’s New Bedford Creative grant program WICKED COOL PLACES, the EVERSOURCE FOUNDATION as well as the New Bedford, Massachusetts’s Office of Tourism, EXPLORE NEW BEDFORD, a critical department serving the arts & culture community. Thank you to our generous supporters who believe in investing in the arts.
