The Indemann was designed by the Maastricht architecture firm Maurer United Architects as a symbol of the structural-political evolution of the former mining region near Inden. This 36 meter high, accessible steel sculpture, built on a brown coal dump, resembles in its form a primitive robot. The Indemann gets its unique brightness from Illumesh® – a semitransparent skin made of stainless steel mesh with interwoven LED profiles by GKD – Gebrüder Kufferath AG. During the day, the metallic surface shimmers and reflects light, then at night a computer-controlled light show comes to life. The worldwide patented system is a cooperative product of GKD and ag4 media facade GmbH, Cologne. The Indemann is the first public project in Germany where Illumesh® is in use. After the spectacular dress rehearsal at the beginning of August, which attracted already over 2.500 spectators, the official inauguration of the steel colossus is on September 5th.
The specially by ag4 developed and tailored show represents the transition of a changing cultural landscape and forms the basis for the atmospheric dense, smoothly shifting color and light patterns changes, as a symbol of the transformation from coal mining area towards a research-, educational and recreational region.

via: gkd.de, wikipedia.org

1211LIGHTING at the forefront of Acapulco’s re-birth creates first even environmental friendly LED lighting installation and one of the largest in México is setting new standards of excellence with lighting design in this popular tourist destination. Forum Imperial located at the center of Acapulco’s Diamante Zone is the first of three structures of Mundo Imperial. The 2060 square meter glass façade is illuminated by more than 89,000 individual LEDs. The result, a dazzling fusion of color-changing and signage effects is captivating passersby and intensifying the entertainment value and experience of visitors attending events.

“With construction just underway I know something big was about to begin,” says Manuel Padilla Tapia, president of 1211LIGHTING, which provided the design concept, LED solution and programming as well as consulting and installation services. “I envisioned a spectacular façade of active patterns of color and scrolling-text, inspiring a new icon of the city.”

The challenge was to encourage the mega developer and architect to replace the 1500W metal halides fixtures using color filters with energy-efficient LED solutions, providing greater design flexibility and a seamless façade of dynamic colors, motion graphics and basic billboard capabilities supporting a wide variety of content for real-time advertising and promotional opportunities. In addition to generating a new glow of modern sophistication with state-of-the-art LED technology in the Diamante Zone, 1211LIGHTING honored the pure engineering grandeur of the sophisticated architecture – far exceeding the original wall-wash design concept.

by: 1211lighting.com

“How it would be, if a house was dreaming”

555 KUBIK | facade projection | from urbanscreen on Vimeo.

The conception of this project consistently derives from its underlying architecture – the theoretic conception and visual pattern of the Hamburg Kunsthalle. The Basic idea of narration was to dissolve and break through the strict architecture of O. M. Ungers “Galerie der Gegenwart”. Resultant permeabilty of the solid facade uncovers different interpretations of conception, geometry and aesthetics expressed through graphics and movement. A situation of reflexivity evolves – describing the constitution and spacious perception of this location by means of the building itself.

by:rossarossa.de, urbanscreen.com
via: interactivearchitecture.org

The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, constructed by KSWA Architects, is sited in Overland park, a college campus suburb characterized by large surface parking lots and evenly scaled buildings of brown brick. The materials are derived from nature and from the local context. The exhibition galleries are housed in a solid light controlled volume that hovers above the open lobby function below. Regional whitish limestone is used in contrast to the adjacent buildings, making reference instead to local geology. The stone volume cantilevers beyond the building’s structural core to reveal a horizontal soffit that becomes a surface for a permanent exterior LED light installation, bringing the art experience to the outside.

Microcosm, is a permanent site specific light sculpture that measures 25 by 50 feet and utilizes 12,000 white led nodes. The Nerman Museum of Contemporany Art, Overland Park, Kansas was designed by architect Kyu Sung Woo and Villareal´s piece is installed in the entry way soffit.

by:villareal.net, kswa.com
via:nait5.wordpress.com, nermanmuseum.org

photos: © Timothy Hursley

For the ILUMA building in Singapore Realities United created a light and media facade, which had to be effective both during day and night. The project is part of a new development (Urban Entertainment Center) designed by WOHA architects.
In various ways this concept blurs boundaries as it actively merges the concept of a media screen with an ornamental architectural screen filtering air and light and as it blends abstract futuristic shapes with a 1970’s Vegas style.

The „screen“ facade is formed by a tessellated pattern made up by physical plastic bodies. A regular matrix of fluorescent lamps is superimposed onto (into) this idiosyncratic physical structure. That produces a display screen, which however is vividly distorted by the strong geometry of the individual light fixture and which is peppered by the regular perforations of the physical screen as well as by variations in the arrangements of the light fixture objects.
By intention a complex and ambivalent impression.

On one side there is the impression of an ultra large media screen, which is not yet fully there. It appears to be still deep frozen under a surface of ice, cracking and thawing. A herald of a fundamental change of architecture, which is about to transform from a static to a dynamic art.

On the other side the individual blinking crystals carry a strong reminiscence to the look of the “modern city” of the 20thThe idea of “entertainment” linked to flashing neon signs and excessive baroque carpets of light bulbs with its on-off moving aesthetic. Because there will be change. Being the first development inside the new officially promoted Bugis night life area of Singapore the project anticipates the arrival of several competitors over the next 15 years. Instead of starting a race in latest tech LED glamour, which the project would soon loose to its younger competitors the project concentrates on establishing a superb size and lighting power in combination with a striking visual appearance thereby building the claim of becoming the areas first and lasting land mark.

via: realities-united.de

In die Fassade der 2008 neu eröffneten Konzernzentrale der Energie AG Oberösterreich wurden 665 weisse geschoßhohe LED-Stäbe eingelassen, von denen jeder einzelne direkt ansteuerbar ist. Die Anordnung der Leuchten orientiert sich an der Struktur der Fassade. Unterschiedliche abstrakte Lichtanimationen übertragen die unregelmäßige Struktur der Fassade in die Ebene der Zeit. Das Gebäude wandelt sich in der Dunkelheit zu einem überdimensionalen Display, zu einer bewegten, abstrakten Lichtskulptur.

via: ledfassaden.at, pfaffenbichlerschreiber.org, weber-hofer.ch

OPENINGS is an interactive storefront installation, built into the façade of the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) gallery in Hollywood. Located at a border condition between the urban context of Hollywood Blvd. and the art gallery environment of LACE, OPENINGS uses architectural strategies and interactive media to address these two seemingly disparate zones. This project was developed during David Erdman’s UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design Superficial Superglow v2 winter quarter 2008 technology seminar and will be included in the forthcoming publication Contemporary Plasticity.

A system of modular vacuum-formed panels, LCD displays, and LED lights is built into both the interior and exterior sides of the LACE storefront wall. The white LEDs glow in intensity according to the motion and proximity of pedestrians on Hollywood Blvd’s ‘Walk Of Fame’. LCDs on the exterior side of the wall show animated text describing art exhibits culled from the 30-year history of LACE, while LCDs on the interior show text derived from artist Douglas McCulloh’s project ‘60,000 Photographs in Hollywood’ describing and quoting various characters encountered on Hollywood Blvd.

OPENINGS functions as the active membrane between two zones on either side of the storefront wall, pulling Hollywood Blvd. into LACE gallery and pulling LACE gallery onto the street.

Andrea Boeck and Jihyun Kim are recent graduates of the UCLA Departments of Architecture + Urban Design and Design | Media Arts, respectively. Justin Lui is a current student of the UCLA Department of Design | Media Arts, and a graduate of the UCLA Department of Architecture + Urban Design.

via: archinect.com
Photos: Darrin Little

TARMLED SHINES BRIGHT AT COVENT GARDEN IN LONDON

“Constellation”

A work by United Visual Artists Ltd

UVA present their latest responsive installation commissioned by Covent Garden as part of their Delight Christmas campaign this year. “Constellation“ is a light-based sculpture which has been designed especially for the Covent Garden Market Halls.

TARMLED GmbH & Co. KG of Bochum, Germany supplied a total of 578, 2m long, double-sided, LED-strips, and 37 DPDUs (Data Power Distribution Units), to power the installation in the English capital that has become the talk of the town after just a few days of operation. In just 10 weeks TARMLED’s engineers developed double-sided, video-compatible LED-strips based on it’s TARMLED STRIP 25-modules that were premiered at the “PLASA 2008″ show. The LED strips were incorporated into polycarbonate tubes coated with a semitransparent reflective film, in accordance with UVA’s design. Together with 37 customised TARMLED DPDU’s, the tubes are allowed to hang elegantly in the space, as the DPDU’s allow for cable runs of maximum 20m from the fixture using a single CAT5e cable carrying data and power to each fixture. The 25mm pixel spacing of the TARMLED STRIP and UVA’s regular grid layout of the tubes allow for spectacular 3D-displays of voluminous, complex, geometric patterns and effects. The system is entirely driven by UVA’s d3 production system.

Technical details:

1156 x 2m strips of TARMLED STRIP 25
37 x TARMLED DPDUs customised for UVA
37 x Enttec Datagate
40 x Chromaflood 200
24 x SGM Palco 3
11.8km CAT5e cable
1.2km polycarbonate tube
135sqm semi-translucent mirror silver film
1.4km steel wire
92.480 LEDS
138,720 channels of DMX
1 x d3 production controller

Constellation is a 3-dimensional volumetric lighting installation. It is the first of its kind in the world and features 600 custom-made LED tubes elegantly encased in a one-way mirror film. Constellation was also individually controllable using a custom-designed control panel, giving the installation an intimate connection with the public. During the day it is a beautiful grid of chromed columns hanging elegantly in the space. At night it transforms into a 3-dimensional lighting display. Constellation was designed especially for the indoors of Covent Garden Market Halls. Launched as the flagship piece of the winter season program at Covent Garden 2008.

by/via: United Visual Artists, Tarmled

Ars Electronica’s outstanding international reputation assures it a place in the limelight during Linz’s term as European Capital of Culture in 2009. The city is now creating an appropriate architectural setting for this starring role by expanding the Ars Electronica Center. The planning is the work of Treusch architecture, Vienna.

The new Ars Electronica Center is a one-of-a-kind facility. Its uniqueness is betokened by its external form. This bold architectural statement is an instant highlight within the Linz cityscape’s ensemble, yet it still sets itself apart at first—none of its edges run parallel, everything appears skewed, elements simultaneously pulling apart and merging together. A structure that’s constantly assuming new forms depending on the perspective from which it’s viewed. And one that withholds revelation of its scope and dimensions until the moment of direct physical encounter.

More than 5000m ² of glass facade covering the new Ars Electronica Center was assembled with 1100 LED light strips (RGBW – Red, Green, Blue and White High Power LED `s) . Each of the approximately 4400 channels (RGBW 4 Channel light bar) is individually adressable and adjustable between 0-100%. Imagery from patterns to homogeneous color surfaces are possible. The result is a holistic entity, a striking highlight of the Linz cityscape, and the architectural counterpart of the Lentos Museum of Modern Art on the opposite bank of the Danube. Overall, this project uses about 40 000 high power LEDs, 1100 pcs LED drivers, about 20km cable, several distributors and controls. By using the latest LED driver technology, the average electricity consumption is up to 10 kWh at night.

via: AEC, ledfassaden.at, Treusch Architektur
Photos: AEC / rubra

Rundle Lantern will be launched at 7.30pm Friday 24 October! Be there as it lights up Adelaide for the first time. Join the celebration with music, entertainment and more.

Constructed around the face of the Rundle Street U-Park, the Rundle Lantern is a digital canvas that uses computer controlled LEDs to illuminate 748 square panels to deliver a unique platform for art. Its purpose is to enrich, invigorate and enliven the intersection of Rundle Street and Pulteney Street.

At 1066 square metres, the Rundle Lantern can be programmed to display simple numbers, letters and geometric shapes as well as an infinite array of lights, colour, morphing designs and patterns.

Rundle Lantern Alternate ColourIllumination is through 17,952 light emitting diodes (LED) configured as 5.984 of each colour – red, green and blue through 1496 units that each contain 12 clusters of red, green and blue LED’s. The LED’s can create any configuration of 16 million colours which are reflected upwards onto 748 aluminium panels of 1.1 m x 1 m.

The Rundle Lantern was designed by Fusion, an Adelaide-based agency for the digital age following a competitive design tender by the Adelaide City Council’s Urban Design team.

The Rundle Lantern was launched at the end of October and operates each night from dusk to midnight, with hours extended for special events.

via: Fusion, cityofadelaide