information aesthetics

the largest color LED display worldwide, & the first photo-voltaic system integrated into a glass curtain wall in China. the display requires zero external energy, as the facade harvests solar energy by day & uses it to illuminate the screen after dark. the display comprises of 2,292 color (RGB) LED’s light points comparable to a 24,000 sq. ft. (2.200 m2) monitor screen for dynamic content display.

the polycrystalline photovoltaic cells are laminated within the glass of the curtain wall & placed with changing density on the entire building’s skin. the density pattern increases building’s performance, allowing natural light when required by interior program, while reducing heat gain & transforming excessive solar radiation into energy for the media wall.

you can play with the online simulator, or watch a movie after the break.

[link: greenpix.org|via engadget.com]

continue reading "greenpix zero-energy massive LED display" »

aesthetic & architecture & interface . comments (3)

a modular, visual facade system that is able to simulate a pixel-based hull for any building or wall surface. like a dynamic membrane, it allows a building to express, communicate & interact with its environment. the Flare system consists of several tiltable metal flake bodies supplemented by individually controllable pneumatic cylinders. each stainless steel flake reflects the bright sky or sunlight when in vertical stand-by position. when the flake is tilted downwards pneumatic piston, its face is shaded from the sky light & appears as a dark pixel.

[link: flare-facade.com|thnkx Peter]

continue reading "kinetic reflection media facade" »

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an intriguing eco-visualization concept, originally blogged in April 2005, recently seems to have become reality. "Nuage Vert" ("Green Cloud") is a city-scale light installation representing the actual energy consumption (& its accompanying environmental pollution?) of a coal burning power plant.

a high power laser beam illuminates the vapor emission of a coal burning CHP power plant, turning the smoke into a city scale neon sign. the green cloud then grows bigger in real time as local residents take control & consume less electricity.

[link: hehe.org & pixelache.ac (blog)]

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a new temperature-sensitive varnish that can be applied to road surfaces to visually warn drivers about dangerous conditions.

the varnish is made of a polymer containing a thermochromic pigment. the same type of coating is already used to make bath thermometers & frozen food packaging that responds to temperature change. however, it is the first time such a coating has been used to monitor road temperatures.

[link: newscientist.com|via neatorama.com|thnkx Martin]

see also color changing concrete & thermo-chromic tiles

continue reading "visual road temperature warning" »

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a 22m long electroluminescent wall that marks the entrance to the First & Concorde Galleries lounges in the new Heathrow Terminal 5. ‘All the time in the World’ extends the conventional notion of a world clock, which commonly concentrates on capital cities in different time zones, by linking real time to places with exciting & romantic associations.

[link: troika.uk.com|thnkx Juan Pablo]

see also statistical wall numbers & airport infographics terminal & flying carpet.

continue reading "electroluminescent time wall" »

aesthetic & architecture & art . comments (3)

an augmented reality architectural form, driven by real time environmental information such as temperature, brightness, humidity, wind direction and sound. nodes reflecting the sensor network are the seeds for the virtual architecture, growing and subsiding like an organism.

[link: corpora.ycam.jp & doublenegatives.jp |thnkx thedlab]

see also: stranger than fiction infographics, statistical wall numbers & rixome.

continue reading "autonomous architecture" »

aesthetic & architecture & physical . comments (4)

a visualization-style wall decoration based on the 8 global headquarters of the infrastructure consultancy Aecom in Athens, Dubai, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, London, New York, Shanghai & Sydney. the 8 graphics take each capital city as a starting point & connect it, by means of a line, to all 280 worldwide office locations of Aecom. as a result, each installation looks different, depending on the actual headquarter office it is located in.

[link: richardsarson.com]

continue reading "cities of the world wall decal" »

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a permanent physical data art installation in an underground passageway, consisting of 16 half-mirroring wall elements showing real-time sociological statistics, such as the number of malnourished children, Viennese in love in today, war casualties since January 1, HIV infected people in the world, or the amount of consumed schnitzels in Vienna.

passers-by see themselves mirrored in the various panels in the subterranean passageway below the Karlsplatz in Vienna. while reading the up-to-date number on the digital counting device, they are, as readers, being linked to the number in a performative sense.

[link: reinisch.at & publicartvienna.at|thnkx Monika]

continue reading "statistical wall numbers" »

aesthetic & architecture & art & physical . comments (1)