In this edition of Culturalee Innovators, we sit down with artist Rafael El Baz to explore the story behind 11 Million Dots, his striking new art installation created for the Park Royal Design District as part of the London Design Festival. El Baz shares how he captured ambient sounds and community interviews from the area, transforming these layered voices and industrial rhythms into an intricate visual language that now spans the façade. Following its unveiling during the festival, 11 Million Dots will remain as a permanent landmark in Park Royal, embodying the living pulse of the community in monumental form.
11 Million Dots transforms community voices and industrial sounds into a monumental visual language. Can you walk us through your creative process, from recording ambient sounds and interviews to translating them into the final facade design?
I wanted 11 Million Dots to act as a record of Park Royal in 2025. Instead of starting with a sketch, I began with sound, recording hours of conversations with residents and makers, the hum of factories, traffic, birdsong in the park, and the everyday rhythms that capture the hidden heartbeat of the place. These became the raw material for the piece. Using custom software, I transformed the recordings into flowing patterns that resemble clouds, streams, and data currents. The result is a façade that shifts between being technological yet organic, a surface shaped by the voices and sounds of the community. What excites me is that the artwork isn’t just authored by me, it’s co-authored by the people, industries and environment of Park Royal itself.
Given that this piece is embedded in both the physical and cultural landscape of Park Royal, how did working with the local community shape your vision and impact the final outcome of the artwork?
Park Royal is one of London’s most diverse and hard-working areas, a place of kitchens, workshops, factories, and homes. I wanted the artwork to reflect that richness. By recording hundreds of voices and sounds across the community, I built up a portrait of daily life: machinery humming, food being cooked, conversations unfolding. Instead of spotlighting one story, the project became about layering many together. As a result, the façade is not merely decorative but an abstract collective portrait of the area. It gives space for multiple interpretations and, much like watching shifting patterns in the clouds, the design invites people to see their own stories within it. What’s powerful is that the community is embedded in the work, their voices and surroundings literally generate the design. Through the artwork, the data centre becomes a cultural landmark and archive, carrying forward the memory and identity of Park Royal for years to come.
Find out more about Rafael El Baz here.
