From the image of heaven to dynamic light
Luminous ceilings provide spacious room impressions and can provide different types of lighting. Besides this, they are, however, also metaphors of the natural sky and a mirror of an aesthetic and architectural debate. The historical observation of ceilings reveals that the image of heaven, which reached a theological culmination in the luminous Renaissance stucco techniques, turned into large-scale light emanating surfaces. Even if the luminance of contemporary LED screens has increased intensely and thereby creates a point of attraction, designers still look to establish a pictorial language for an impressive appearance.

via/by: Thomas Schielke – arclighting.de

The International Lighting Design Index collects the innovators and leading heads together with their current projects to present the contemporary technology-driven trends.
via: luminapolis.com
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This interview was given to Scott Johnson and Ashlen Williams, graduate students from the University of Kansas currently developing a research project on “Communicative Architecture: An Analysis of How Digital Infrastructure Shapes Human Interaction in the Built Environment.”

1. How does the interactive, animated nature of the newest forms of
media facades redefine public space?

Well, I think we all must admit that we simply don’t know. Always when a new technology emerges there are some prophets that predict salvation and the dawn of a new era of communication and there are others that warn against negative effects like light pollution or excessive advertising. In a sense both sides are true but one has to develop more differentiated points of view. In other words: an emotional but also rational discourse is needed in order to tame the chances and risks of this new field. The discussion has to be as public as possible and is to involve different stakeholders. – That’s a main reason for organising the Media Facades Festival in Berlin (http://www.mediaarchitecture.org/mediafacades2008/)

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This is my presentation at the Media Architecture Conference in London in Sept. 2007. with voice and better image quality.
If you want to see the presentation full screen go here and press icon “full”.
The text version is available here.

Keywords:
MediaArchitecture definition (first try), challenges, tag cloud, media facade typologies, facade structure, display structure, building automation, led

The Torre Agbar, or Agbar Tower, has been designed by French architect Jean Nouvel. It opened in June 2005 and it was inaugurated officially by the King of Spain on 16. September 2005.

The Torre Agbar is a colored lighting illuminate skyline that pretend to become one of the 21st century landmark of Barcelona.

The building is characterized by its nocturnal illumination: it has more than 4,000 luminous devices that use technology LED. A total of 4,500 L3 RGB lights were installed to illuminate the 32 floors of offices in the Agbar tower. The lighting system, which contains 4,500 L3 RGB lights, is controlled from a single computer.

Jean Nouvel wrote on this project: “This is not a tower, a skyscraper, in the American sense. It is a more an emergence, rising singularly in the center of a generally calm city. Unlike slender spires and bell towers that typically pierce the horizons of horizontal cities, this tower is a fluid mass that bursts through the ground like a geyser under permanent, calculated pressure.”

via:ledlightray.com
Photo: by megapiksl via flikr

Some years ago Christian Möller, Joachim Sauter from ART+COM have published some interesting ideas for the EXPO in Hannover. They can be found at netzspannung.org. There’s a paper Das vierte Format: Die Fassade als mediale Haut der Architektur [PDF | 669 KB ] published in 2004.