'Darkest building on Earth' is at 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang

2025-04-28 05:00:16admin

"There's something about this that's so black, it's like how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black."

Spinal Tap's inane discussion of their pitch-black album cover is the best way we can get a handle on the brand-new pavilion unveiled at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games in South Korea.

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A new project commissioned by Hyundai, British architect Asif Khan's 10-meter-high temporary building has been erected specifically for the Games, which officially begin on Friday, Feb. 9.

In what's being called "the darkest building on Earth," Khan's structure has employed a sprayable version of the ominous Vantablack pigment. Created by UK researchers in 2014 and trademarked by British artist Anish Kapoor, Vantablack is touted as the darkest known artificial substance in the world — it absorbs up to 99.965 percent of light that hits its surface.

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Credit: Luke Hayes/Asif Khan via Getty Images

But the pavilion's four sides are not just super, super black — they're covered in what look like tiny stars, made visible as minuscule light rods.

According to Dezeen, the surface of the pavilion appears to change as visitors approach, with the light rods clustering when they sense movement nearby.

Credit: Luke Hayes/Asif Khan via Getty Images

Inside the pavilion, it's a completely different aesthetic. In a white room, visitors walk across a pathway as 25,000 droplets of water weave along minuscule channels into a large pool.