111: 12/29/13

street light solution by using bamboo

12/29/2013

Lamp which produce electricity from its kinetic energy

12/29/2013

The 3d printed nylon polymer lamp designed by Dr. Margot Krasojević is suspended by a spindle whereby it’s weight and form contribute to the angular momentum vector as it spins along its axis of rotation; it is affected by minor environmental changes such as temperature and air currents which rotate the light along its path of velocity. The light has a motion sensor diode clamped between both suspended 3d printed sections which powers the battery lighting the LED when in motion. As a result of it’s form, the light speeds up tremendously due to it’s conservation of angular momentum, the form of the light reduces it’s rotational inertia affecting it’s rotational speed which must increase to maintain constant angular momentum resulting in a brighter light. The light has been influenced by the physics behind ice skater spinning/a spinning top.

    The light weighs 145g, the material is a nylon polymer but also available in a lightweight polished white ceramic glaze which does not have as much resistance to move as a result of air friction unlike the rougher edged polymer which tends to slow down rotation at a faster rate than the ceramic coated shell.

   The light is comprised of two vertical elements which lock into one another using clamps, as the light turns a dynamo transforms kinetic energy from the light’s movement into electricity that is used to power the LED. This dynamo is an electrical generator which is clamped between the two 3d printed vertical elements, so that when they spin the movement is turned into electricity, the faster the light spins the brighter the LED.

    Currently the light is being adapted to line the inside of the 3d printed elements with copper coil, using powerful magnets attached to the spindle within the vertical axis of the light and a separate magnet mounted to the 3d printed elements ensures that as they rotate the magnets on the 3d printed elements closely pass by the magnet suspended on the spindle, causing it to induce an electric current that lights the LED. As the light rotates faster, the LED lights brighter.

Also in consideration is the application of a piezoelectric zinc element which produces a current as the light rotates, this current is strong enough to light a 1.5V LED. Investigations in the field of semi-conductors contribute to affordable, sustainable lighting for the future, a technology that is one of the design criteria for this light series.

Sustainable Opera House Proposal

12/29/2013

A proposal made by the twin brothers of sanzpont for the Busan Opera House Competition, the concept of their design is based on the philosophy of Korea, the balance of opposites, the Um-Yang. The fundamental idea is to create an iconic building that represents the culture in which it is immersed, to remind the native people where they come from in order to promote this philosophy to the outside world. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Materializing this ancient philosophy in a cutting edge building connects the past with the present, giving long life to a culture that must be projected into the future. The vision of this building is the integration with its natural and urban environment, besides being spectacular, create public spaces and nature, respecting and helping the environment, a sustainable design that promotes a city to the world.

The LED RGB lighting glows inside a double layer of Nebular Gradient Silkscreened ETFE. The printed texture gradients the opacity of the skin to control sunlight and lighting. By controlling the intensity and the RGB gradients of the LEDs, the skin creates Energy Flow in Motion. The skin represents the unity of opposites that compose the cosmos.

The skin incorporates Photovoltaic Solar Panels capturing energy from the sun to generate and supply electricity from a clean and sustainable energy. The Extensive Green Roof helps to provide oxygen and ambient temperature regulation, providing a natural insulation skin on the top of the building. LED technology glow the skin of the building at night, creating art with light of low energy consumption emphasizing the fluid and singular skin. The Ventilated and Shading Façade reduces interior solar radiation by shading the internal curtain wall, and the diffuse solar light enters interior space through the gradient opacities. Rainwater is collected through the entire roof and stored to be used in bathroom equipment and landscape irrigation. Grey water is treated and re-used for landscape irrigation.

The building is designed to be passable inside and out, becomes an urban element deployed from the site as a bridge to its top as a balcony. The Green Roof extends the gardens and recreational areas of the city, increase the natural landscape and invites you to rise to the top of the building creating an Urban Park. The rising walkway increases pedestrian paths in the area and invites you to rise to the top while enjoying panoramic views, then go down and continue a site walk. The terraces at different levels generate scenic viewpoints. The green surface along the roof creates natural seating steps for the contemplation of aquatic and urban events. The exterior urban areas of the site are designed according to Korean Philosophy; the building is surrounded by 4 plazas: Ri/Fire, Gon/Earth, Gam/Water and Geon/Metal. The design also incorporates a Water Balcony as part of the pedestrian path; this element provides a little more interaction between users and their natural environment.

Architects: Frank Gehry
Location: Los Angeles, CA ‎
Year: 2003

Completed October 23, 2003, The Walt Disney Concert Hall has received wide acclaim for its excellent acoustics and distinctive architecture. In the decade since its opening, the hall’s sweeping, metallic surfaces have become associated with Frank Gehry’s signature style.

In 1987, Lilian Disney donated $50 million to establish a concert hall in honor of her late husband, Walt. Frank Gehry was selected from among several candidates during a design competition the following year. His proposal was largely oriented toward the public, with much of the site allocated to open gardens. Several years into the project, a combination of political and managerial impediments threatened its realization. It was shut down in 1994, but revived by a press and fund-raising campaign two years later.

The concert hall was designed as a single volume, with orchestra and audience occupying the same space. Seats are located on each side of the stage, providing some audience members with distant views of the performers’ sheet music. The former director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic felt boxes and balconies implied social hierarchies within the audience, and spatial segregation was minimized in the design. Curvilinear planes of Douglas fir provide the only partitions, delineating portions of the 2,265 member audience without creating visual obstructions. The steel roof structure spans the entire space, eliminating the need for interior columns. The organ stands at the front of the hall, a bouquet of 6,134 curved pipes extending nearly to the ceiling. It is the unique result of a collaboration between Gehry and Manuel J. Rosales, a Los Angeles-based organ designer.

Gehry worked with Yasuhisa Toyota, the acoustical consultant, to hone the hall’s sound through spatial and material means. To test the acoustics, they used a 1:10 scale model of the auditorium, complete with a model occupant in each seat. This required all elements to be scaled accordingly, including increasing the frequency of sound in the space to reduce the wavelength by a factor of ten. The concert hall’s partitions and curved, billowing ceiling act as part of the acoustical system while subtly referencing the sculptural language of the exterior.

The exterior is a composition of undulating and angled forms, symbolizing musical movement and the motion of Los Angles. The design developed through paper models and sketches, characteristic of Gehry’s process. The custom curvature demanded a highly specific steel structure, including box columns tilted forward at 17º on the building’s north side. Visitors can glimpse the steel frame through a skylight in the pre-concert room and view the supporting structure from a stairway leading to the garden.

The reflective, stainless steel surface engages light as an architectural medium. The facade’s individual panels and curves are articulated in daylight and colored by city lights after dark. The building was initially set to be clad in stone, but a more malleable material was chosen following the completion of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the concert hall’s titanium-clad cousin. Thin metal panels allowed for more adventurous curvature and could be structurally disassociated from the ground. The metallic forms appear to hover above an asymmetrical band of glazing at the building’s base. Glass fissures in the facade bring light into the lobby and pre-concert room, reading as a grand entryway through the otherwise opaque facade.

The hall’s planning committee conceived of the project as a civic amenity, hoping it would serve as a catalyst in the activation of LA’s downtown. Some critics debate the effectiveness of this siting strategy, acknowledging an increase in surrounding property values but little shift in the city’s cultural epicenter. Perhaps that will change as development continues on the site. The Diller Scofidio + Renfro designed Broad Museum is under construction across the street, and Gehry himself recently announced he will rejoin the effort to develop the adjacent stretch of Grand Avenue. There may be a cost to creating a cultural center beside the concert hall, however. A new subway is scheduled to run 125 feet beneath the lowest level of the concert hall, and may disrupt the acoustics of the internationally recognized performance space.