Illustrated festival scene with large colored lantern structures in the foreground, crowds of people, and two Ferris wheels in the background against a mountainous landscape.

June 18, 2026

Words: Stephen Treffinger

Coachella’s Starry Eyes Installation Celebrates Desert Beauty

Although colossal, AR-K-C’s pleated orbs for the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival echoed cacti native to the Southern California landscape.

Illustrated festival scene with large colored lantern structures in the foreground, crowds of people, and two Ferris wheels in the background against a mountainous landscape.
An aerial concept sketch of Starry Eyes by London-based architect Kyriakos Chatziparaskevas of AR-K-C showcases his cactuslike shade structures for this year’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, California. Photography by Courtesy of AR-K-C.
A sketch shows an exploded view of a structure with metal plates, fabric sheets, and screws, alongside labeled notes about attachments and assembly.
Another sketch details the components of the installation’s structures, made from steel ribs, metal plates, and pleated stretch velvet. Photography by Courtesy of AR-K-C.
Orange geometric dome structure with a circular opening at the top, viewed from below against a blue sky. Green beams radiate outward from the center.
Each orb had an opening at the bottom for festivalgoers to enter and an oculus for them to gaze at the sky. Photography by Courtesy of AR-K-C.
Color scheme chart with nature photos on the left, corresponding color swatches in the center, and a top-down diagram of circular tent structures on the right labeled by color.
The fabric shades referenced aspects of the local landscape as seen at golden hour, translated into the most similar Pantone colors. Photography by Courtesy of AR-K-C.

Design By The Numbers

  • 13 ORBS
  • 24,500 square feet of fabric
  • 11,650 linear feet of steel
  • 17-40 feet high
  • 7,000 square-foot overall footprint
  • 8 fabric colors
A group of large, colorful, ribbed pod-like structures sit on a grassy field under a partly cloudy sky.
The forms composing Starry Eyes had roughly the same number of ribs as the species of golden barrel cacti they mimicked: 30 for the smaller (younger) cacti shapes up to 20 feet in diameter, and 35 for larger (older) ones greater than 20 feet in diameter. Photography by Lance Gerber/Courtesy of Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.
Geometric dome ceiling with orange panels radiating from a central circular skylight, revealing blue sky and clouds.
The opening at the top nodded to the skylight in John Lautner’s Hope residence in Palm Springs, about 25 miles away from Empire Polo Field, where Coachella took place in April. Photography by Lance Gerber/Courtesy of Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.
Three large, ribbed dome structures in yellow, white, and reddish-brown, set against a clear blue sky.
The fabric colors fell into three groups: red-brown Desert Meadows, orangey Indio Valley Succulents, and blueish Southern California Sky and Mountain. Photography by Lance Gerber/Courtesy of Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.
Large, illuminated balloon-like sculptures with star patterns are displayed outdoors at night, with silhouettes of people walking around them.
At night, interior pulsing uplights “revealed the ribbed skeletons,” recalls Chatziparaskevas, who was commissioned by Public Art Company founder Raffi Lehrer in collaboration with Goldenvoice art director Paul Clemente, “and turned the installation into glowing beacons.” —Stephen Treffinger Photography by Lance Gerber/Courtesy of Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.

read more

  • No tags selected