Kinetic Rain

Singapore Changi Airport’s Terminal 1 has a magnificent art installation – Kinetic Rain. The sculpture enthralls visitors with its fluidity, distinctive shapes, movements and precision-perfect technology.

Kinetic Rain is made up of 1,216 bronze droplets that transform elegantly into multiple shapes and took 20 months to create. The key element in every shape shows the movement of flight through slow, fluid movements. Some of the more recognisable shapes include an aeroplane, hot air balloon and a kite. One can also make out a dragon and a flock of birds amongst the 16 different programmed segments.

Each droplet is connected to motors installed in the ceiling of the Departure Check-in Hall. The motors contain a high precision rotary encoder which keeps track of the exact position of each droplet and a computer programme controls the movement of the droplets to form Kinetic Rain’s unique shapes and patterns.

Mr Yeo Kia Thye, Senior Vice President for Airport Operations, Changi Airport Group, says, “With more than a thousand raindrops working together in harmony, Kinetic Rain also symbolises the thousands in the airport community who work together every day.”