Reflecting Diverseness: Visualising socio political data through light, colour and material reuse

Presented during Dutch Design Week at Pennings Foundation, and continuing on view until 22 November, Reflecting Diverseness is a large scale installation by studio mo man tai that transforms statistical socio political data into an immersive spatial experience. The work proposes an alternative way of reading society, one that replaces abstraction and polarisation with sensory clarity, visual generosity and material intelligence.

At its core, the installation explores how diversity contributes to balance and richness within contemporary Dutch society. Drawing on official data from the Centraal Bureau van Statistiek, the project translates numbers into form, scale and atmosphere, inviting visitors to encounter demographic realities not as charts or infographics, but as a shared physical landscape.

A FIELD OF DATA MADE TANGIBLE

More than 8,800 handmade mirrored flowers form a simulated meadow, each flower statistically representing a distinct group within the Dutch population. Approximately one in four residents of the Netherlands has partial or full origins outside the country, while 72.1 per cent have two parents born in the Netherlands. Rather than framing these figures as opposing narratives, Reflecting Diverseness visualises them as a coherent whole, where difference and continuity coexist in equilibrium.

The choice of flowers is deliberate. Diversity, by definition, describes a state composed of many different elements or types. In this installation, that definition becomes spatial and experiential. Individual flowers vary in form, reflection and colour, yet together they construct a balanced visual ecosystem, mirroring the social structure they represent.

SEEING STATISTICS DIFFERENTLY

Studio mo man tai has long explored experimental approaches to data visualisation, consistently favouring colour, optimism and unconventional materials. With Reflecting Diverseness, the designers address a pressing socio political theme at a moment when public discourse is often flattened by repetition, misrepresentation or fatigue.

By shifting data into a visually light and unexpected register, the installation reactivates attention. Visitors are first drawn in by spectacle: reflections, colour, scale and movement. Only gradually does a second layer emerge, as the realisation sets in that this immersive field is constructed from precise and accurate demographic information. It is within this moment of delayed understanding that the project finds its strength, encouraging reflection, conversation and renewed curiosity.

AN IMMERSIVE ENCOUNTER

The installation unfolds within a theatrically lit space, where mirrored surfaces amplify light and multiply perception. Reflections ripple across walls and ceilings, creating a pixelated, almost digital surface that contrasts with the handcrafted nature of the flowers themselves. Visitors instinctively respond by photographing the space, capturing its visual intensity, before engaging more deeply with its conceptual foundation.

This layered experience is intentional. Studio mo man tai believes that confronting data through unfamiliar sensory frameworks can place information back into perspective, opening up new forms of understanding grounded in both emotion and accuracy.

SUSTAINABILITY AS SPECTACLE

Material reuse is central to the project’s construction. Leftover acrylic mirror sheets, typically discarded as industrial waste, are laser cut into organic and geometric forms designed to maximise material efficiency and minimise loss. Each fragment is assembled by hand into flower like structures, producing subtle variations in reflection and light behaviour.

Arranged together and activated by carefully positioned spotlights, the flowers generate a dynamic field of glimmers and sparkles. Light scatters across surfaces, transforming recycled material into an ethereal environment that feels both delicate and expansive. Sustainability here is not didactic, but experiential, demonstrating how circular production can result in visual richness and spatial impact.

FROM INSTALLATION TO SURFACE DESIGN

Once a critical mass of flowers was completed, the installation was documented from above and translated into a series of graphic patterns. These patterns extend the project beyond the exhibition space, appearing as fabric for the Pennings Foundation shop window and as a custom wallpaper developed with BIG Impact.

The wallpaper, Murafort Velvet, combines deep colour saturation with a soft, velvet like surface, offering a tactile and atmospheric interpretation of the installation’s visual language. The result is a material application that bridges art, interior design and architectural surface, reinforcing the project’s cross disciplinary reach.

COLLECTING DIVERSITY

The installation is composed of 175 numbered boxes, each containing 50 flowers and representing a precise statistical cross section of the Dutch population based on 2024 CBS data. Each box is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and contextual information. Following the exhibition, a curated selection will be available at the Fenix Museum shop in Rotterdam, with additional sets offered directly by the studio.

A COLLABORATIVE PLATFORM

Reflecting Diverseness is supported by partners whose practices align with the project’s values. Pyrasied supplies the recycled acrylic mirror material, advocating circular production as the foundation of sustainable entrepreneurship. BIG Impact provides exhibition materials and develops high end, environmentally responsible print solutions for the professional market. Fenix, the new museum dedicated to migration in Rotterdam, extends the project’s narrative into a broader cultural context, while Pennings Foundation offers a platform that connects contemporary art, photography and the public through accessible, high quality exhibitions.

Through Reflecting Diverseness, studio mo man tai demonstrates how design can recalibrate the way we perceive data, society and sustainability. By translating statistics into space, and complexity into beauty, the installation offers a nuanced, visually compelling lens on one of the most discussed themes of our time.

Project Credit

Project Name: Reflecting Diverseness
Firm: Mo Man Tai / @studio.mo.man.tai
Location: Netherland

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