Archinect - News

A solar-powered media façade that ‘consumes only as much energy as it produces’

2023-07-06T11:32:00-04:00

A team comprising iart, AMDL CIRCLE, and Michele De Lucchi has created a ‘zero-energy media façade’ for the Novartis Pavilion in Basel, Switzerland. Combining PV panels and LEDs, the façade is described by the team as “illustrating the potential of organic photovoltaics in architecture.”

Photo credit: iart – studio for media architectures

Photo credit: Laurids Jensen

The façade features 10,000 diamond-shaped solar modules with LED lights embedded within that shine outwards as well as inwards onto the pavilion’s metal shell. The reflection of the metal shell creates a shimmer through the semi-transparent solar modules, resulting in a multi-layered membrane for displaying content.

Photo credit: iart – studio for media architectures

The display only consumes as much electrical energy as it is capable of producing through carbon-based organic solar modules that were custom-made for the project. The modules were ideal for the pavilion’s dom...

Allianz Arena will not display rainbow colors in support of LGBTQ activists following a controversial UEFA ruling

2021-06-22T21:01:00-04:00

UEFA has rejected a call from activists to convert the Allianz Arena in Munich into a rainbow-covered light scheme in unison with protests ahead of Germany’s final European Championship group game with Hungary that it is slated to host on Wednesday.

The city council’s proposal was rejected by Europe’s governing soccer body after a ruling cited the effort’s political motivations as the reasoning behind the denial.

Activists are looking to shed light on the recent passage of a bill they say is meant to target LGBTQ education in Hungary’s public school system. The Herzog and de Meuron-designed stadium would have joined other Bundesliga pitches across the country in a show of solidarity that will now be expressed by fans inside the stadium, at Town Hall, and on the city’s nearby Olympiaturm as support for the protest grows.

Aerial photo of Allianz Arena. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons user Chumwa.

“We in Munich certainly won’t let ourselves be discouraged from sending a clear signal to...

Occupying institutional space with light: The Illuminator

2018-10-31T16:29:00-04:00

Enter the Illuminator, a New York-based art activist collective, whose shifting membership has mastered the legal grey zone that regulates projection in public. [...] the Illuminator takes the normally stationary technology out of the classroom and onto the streets, affixing a high-powered, 12,000-lumens projector atop a van — or, when special nimbleness is required, a trolley — to ignite urban façades with political statements that are as bold as they are temporary.

Image: The Illuminator Collective.

For this recent Urban Omnibus feature, digital media scholar Eli Horwatt interviews art-activist collective The Illuminator. Since capturing the public attention with their Occupy-inspired 99% Bat Signal projection in 2011, the collective has been, quite literally, making headlines with large-scale interventions on institutional facades such as the "We’re all sitting ducks" slogan beamed on the outside of the United Nations building during a Nuclear Non-Proliferation conference in 2015 as well as smaller installations like the Edward Snowden hologram.

Image: The Illuminator Collective.

"When we project directly onto the facade of an institution whose policies and actions we stand against, we know that we are working within a set of constraints that require precise planning and rapid adaptability. We know that if they become aware of our actions, institutions will work quickly to remove any type of critical messaging from association with their buildi...

Chinese city to launch artificial moon into space. What could possibly go wrong?

2018-10-29T19:13:00-04:00

It might sound like a plot cooked up by a cartoon villain, but a city in southwestern China is aiming to launch into space an artificial moon that could replace streetlights by bathing the ground in a “dusk-like glow.” [...] the satellite’s mirror-like exterior would reflect sunlight down to Earth, creating a glow about eight times brighter than the moon. The artificial moon, which he said would orbit about 500 kilometers above Earth, could save $174 million in electricity from streetlights.

The capital of China's Sichuan province, Chengdu, could have its own illumination satellite 'moon' up in the skies by 2020, according to the People's Daily.

Light pollution, and its documented health effects on humans and nocturnal wildlife, doesn't seem to be much of a concern to the officials behind the audacious space-mirror scheme. As Kang Weimin, Director of the Institute of Optics, School of Aerospace at Harbin Institute of Technology, attempts to reassure: "The light of the satellite is similar to a dusk-like glow, so it should not affect animals’ routines." – Okay, we're all cool.

Choi + Shine's BIT Light lets you create a multitude of illuminated sculptures

2014-12-19T16:33:00-05:00

Choi + Shine Architects, who envisioned the beautiful Land of Giants in 2010, developed a new lighting system called the BIT Light™. BIT's name is primarily derived from the Korean word for light (빛) which is somewhat pronounced like "bit" in English. It also stands for Bulb with Integrated Technology and describes its fun modular design.

Each BIT light consists of a low-voltage LED light source encased in a translucent polycarbonate shell. Magnetic connectors enable multiple BITs to be physically and electrically linked to each other and to a power source, while letting users get creative and arrange the lights in literally hundreds of forms. BIT's user-friendly design also makes it easier to adjust the amount of illumination inside a space without needing advanced technical skills or professional assistance.

Choi + Shine is currently working on adding more colors, forms, materials, and connectors to the mix.

Learn more about the BIT Light here.

Chicago aims to light up architecture to boost tourism

2014-01-23T14:15:00-05:00

Chicago would be turned into a Midwest version of Paris — La Ville Lumiere, the City of Light — under a mayoral plan showcased Wednesday to boost tourism by spotlighting the city’s architectural wonders. [...] It will start with an “international design competition” that invites teams of artists, architects, engineers and designers to envision ways to light up Chicago’s “buildings, parks, roads and open spaces.”

IluminAction by UrbanoActivo Selected for Venice Architecture Biennale

2012-06-19T13:45:00-04:00

The project IlluminAction by UrbanoActivo, an open design collective from Puerto Rico, has been selected to represent the island in the 13th International Venice Architecture Biennale in Italy this fall (August 29 – November 25). The selection was narrowed from 450 project submissions nationwide and will be presented as part of the Spontaneous Interventions: Design Actions for the Common Good exhibition by The Institute for Urban Design.

This exhibit will be part of an archive of actionable strategies around U.S. cities to improve the public urban realm.

Click here to see more Archinect News posts related to the 13th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.