Media Facades

Research by: Max Jarosz, James Addison

This project was developed throughout a workshop as an exploration in the milieu of Chongqing. The project developed firstly, as a response to the lack of sunlight due to the intense fog present in the city. Due to the lack of sunlight (around one hour of clear sky per day) we looked into Seasonal Affective Disorder and how it is combated with artificial light. This led us to the development of a programmed LED Facade that would provide yellow and orange light during the morning – yellow, blue and white during the day – pink, purple, and orange at sunset, and dim white during the night. By using acrylic rods cast in concrete like the woven fiber optic fabric used in translucent concrete blocks, we could achieve a facade that could be structural, embedded with electronics, and also bring in light from the exterior. To achieve all of this we allowed larger acrylic rods that were densely packed to be located and faceted towards the day light that went through the entire wall, smaller acrylics rods to each go through one side of the concrete panels allowing light from the embedded LEDs to shine separately to the exterior and interior. The exterior lights would also allow the building to communicate with other buildings in the culture of media facades heavily prevalent in the city.