Second Prize International VELUX Award
TIME: 2008
SCALE: Urban
LOCATION: Manhattan
STATUS: Competition entry, On going research
COLLABORATOR: RUAN Hao
The main idea is to propose a light festival in high-density cities worldwide by means of temporary urban installations. For decades, we’ve been witnessing the transformation of high-density cities as a result of urbanization. What we haven’t realize is that a sphere surface of the earth which we call “sunlight interface” here, is transformed into a much more expanded complex surface with over half of the areas being the facades of the buildings.
This is extremely true in the city of New York. Taking this most well-known metropolitan as a case study, we propose an idea to have an one day sunlight festival. We analyzed this interface changed by the emergence of buildings and urban spaces, and further generate a reflective digital installation. This installation is designed to decrease the area with negative shadings by means of reflection through facade on the other side of the street where is hangs onto. As a result during this festival, the negative shaded areas turns dramatically into the enlightened areas just like the opposite side of the street. In proposing an idea of architectural, commercial and environmental values, we hoped to explore the possibility of such reflective installation facade system, to further propose a business plan in branding a light-festival for lighting companies, and eventually raise the awareness of the importance of sunlight both in design and in daily life, to not only architects but each inhabitant.
Manhattan is a typical case of shading problem. Hyper density leads to increase of overall urban surface, the solar distributed unevenly, which resulted in over exposure as well as insufficient daylight in certain area.
