A shimmering cloud of fused glass birds now floats beneath the dome of Dubai Mall’s reimagined District, where Polish artist Edyta Barańska has created a quietly monumental installation that turns architecture into atmosphere and light into motion.
The journey began years ago with a collaboration between Edyta and Art in Public Space, a company that brings curated art into Dubai’s public realm. When the group resumed work with Emaar Properties, developers of Dubai Mall, they invited her to create something new for the central dome of The District, a space redesigned for a more refined, local audience. Labels like Chanel, Manolo Blahnik, Versace, and Louis Vuitton now sit in boutique-style spaces surrounded by soft greenery, layered materials, and subdued elegance.
It became a competition of sorts, with proposals from several international studios. “We proposed fused glass in delicate, organic birdlike forms. We prepared prototypes and presented them to the interior designer responsible for the visual language of Dubai Mall,” Edyta recalls. Those delicate prototypes were selected and, after approval from ownership, a long and intricate design phase began.
The choice of birds wasn’t just aesthetic. “Although many associate Arab countries primarily with camels, horses and birds, especially falcons, are far more revered,” says Edyta. “Falcons appear in many iconic depictions, often found in homes and offices as symbols of prestige, strength, and freedom.”
There was a clear design brief: no swaying, no tilting, each bird had to remain suspended in calm, poetic stillness. “They had to ‘fly’ evenly beneath the dome, forming a calm, orderly composition,” Edyta explains. The visual axis had to point directly to the Burj Khalifa. “The client wanted the view upward to express both the delicacy of the installation and the majesty of the tower. It had to be a unified, meaningful experience,” she adds.
Which is exactly what it became. A delicate flock suspended mid-air, bathed in light, mirroring themes of luxury, identity, and movement. “With a fully transparent dome above and the sky visible through it, it only made sense to place a ‘cloud of birds’ there. It’s a natural reference to nature, to flight, to weightlessness,” says Edyta. “That idea gave the whole structure movement—both visual and spatial.”
That movement turned out to be more literal than anyone expected. “At first, we were concerned about the air conditioning. We feared it would disturb the installation, causing the birds to move unpredictably. But in fact… we unintentionally created a kinetic piece,” Edyta explains.
The air flow created a gentle vortex that set the glass birds in a soft, swirling dance. “The entire composition begins to rotate slightly, giving the impression that the birds are truly flying. It wasn’t planned, but the effect is phenomenal,” she says with a smile.
The result is hypnotic. A constant, almost imperceptible motion that makes each visit feel different. “Each night after installation, we had to make corrections, adjust suspension points, rebalance the whole system to achieve a flawless arrangement,” Edyta says.
“That movement is one of the most magical elements of the whole installation,” she adds. “It’s delicate, but it captures attention. It creates atmosphere. It brings the space to life.”
What truly animates the installation is the material itself. Fused glass, a medium Edyta has spent years perfecting, plays with light in extraordinary ways. Slightly uneven surfaces reflect and refract, responding to the sun, the sky, and the lighting design with nuance. “It’s a process where glass melts over a pre-shaped mold. Importantly, this method doesn’t allow for fully closed forms. The mold has to be open so the glass can be removed after firing,” Edyta explains.
Each bird, there are hundreds, in four different sizes, reacts differently depending on the time of day. “Glass is what brings the installation to life—it reflects and refracts light, creating emotion and energy. I think that’s what sets this piece apart from others in the region,” says the artist.
Morning light (especially around 10 a.m.) hits the dome just right, revealing every contour and texture. After sunset, a hidden lighting system bathes the bronze-toned glass in gold, transforming the piece into a shimmering nocturnal sculpture. “I believe this may be one of the largest kiln-formed glass installations in the world—and certainly the first of its kind created by Polish artists in this region,” Edyta emphasizes.
Edyta’s partner, Maciej Frej, led the technical side. And it was no small feat, the dome is 24 meters high, the longest bird spans 8 meters, and the entire structure hovers above an active HVAC system. “One of the biggest challenges was designing the support structure, since the dome is 24 meters high and the longest bird measures 8 meters. The dome’s floor sits 4.5 meters below, and we had to install everything at around 13–14 meters, just above the HVAC system,” Edyta explains.
The mounting points were already in place, but the structure needed to distribute the weight, nearly two tonnes of glass and steel, with absolute precision. That meant custom engineering and meticulous load calculations.
Edyta produced the first set of technical drawings, then collaborated with engineering firm Atorial, led by Bartłomiej Minor from Gliwice. The entire framework was produced locally in Dubai.
The team flew to Dubai and did the work themselves, at night, since the mall couldn’t shut down. “My entire studio flew to Dubai. We installed the piece ourselves, on-site. Since the mall remained open during the day, we could only work at night,” she recalls. “Each evening we brought in a specialized lift, set up our tools, worked through the night, and cleared the space by morning.”
The support structure took three nights. The birds followed in six, despite Friday and Saturday nights being particularly short. “It was world-class precision. We installed the entire flock in just six nights,” she beams.
Despite their ethereal look, the final piece is solid — almost 880 kg of glass, with a grid weighing another ton. Now Edyta Barańska’s birds hang in the air, shifting, glowing, and breathing with the space, turning a shopping mall into something quietly unforgettable.
Photos: Artur Walczewski
