With Electric Sun's lantern-like volumes and vivid imagery, Escher and GuneWardena reenvision the strip-mall tanning salon.

By David Hay

Ravi GuneWardena & Frank Escher

When actors or models walk into Electric Sun III, the new Los Angeles tanning salon by Escher GuneWardena Architecture, they discover they aren't the only objects of beauty in sight. The salon itself has an artful opulence that's more than just a deft metaphor for physical allure. Above the glistening floor, covered in high-gloss polyester paint, the tanning lights positively glow through the booths' acrylic panels. Some panels are milky white, while others are adorned with colorful, mostly abstract, computer-generated images by artist Jonathan Williams. Especially at night, the tanning booths appear as shimmering lanterns.

See the September, 2001 issue of Architectural Record for the full story. See the people and products behind this project.

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