Inhabitat posted an article about the huge award that the Watercube (The Chinese Aquatic Center) won from the Australian Institute of Architecture.  The award, called the Jorn Utzon Award for International Architecture, is a prestigious honor - but anyone who saw the Watercube on broadcast of the 2008 Summer Olympics knows how beautiful the Watercube really was, and how amazing a collaboration between form and function it brought to our minds.

The Watercube was a joint collaboration between PTW Architects, Chinese firms CSCEC and CCDI, and the international firm, Arup.

From Inhabitat’s article - I love this quote:

The jurors who selected the Watercube said, “The Watercube uses state-of-the-art materials to create a visually striking building that is also energy-efficient and ecologically friendly. The most impressive aspect of the project is the outer shell or molecular skin that envelops the building. The building has a chameleon-like quality that captures light in an extraordinary and memorable way. In every respect, the Watercube is an engaging and ethereal building that comfortably straddles the traditions of both Chinese and Western architecture.”

A special installment of the Weekly WYSIWYG posts - I posted an article yesterday about Marcus Wuebker’s lighting design and programming for the McNamara Tunnel in Detroit’s Airport.  I just got an email from Gil Densham from Cast Lighting - that contained the renderings from the project, which was done in WYSIWYG!  Thanks Gil!  Check these out:

Have you seen or heard of Jenny Holzier’s installation at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art?  Jenny’s exhibit, entitled “Protect Protect,” is a cacophony of video pixels, color, darkness, and shadow, and is absolutely stunning.  Yatzer’s art blog had some images - actually a lot of images - that are beautiful.  Jenny’s art was something I studied a bit about in graduate school, making me see how important content was when placed with light.  Thanks for that, Jenny.

Remember when the Utah Jazz added all of that automation to their lighting and audio system for their games? It looks like the Sacremento Kings stole the idea…  It has been added to “boost the theatrical value” of the home games for the fans.

From the article:

The system, Germann said, “features two types of lighting instruments — one that can project full motion and real-time video on any surface (such as the court), and one designed specifically to cut through ambient and bright light, so fans can still see moving light even when the lights are up.”

My guess is DL2’s or DL3’s, maybe DML-1200’s, and some kind of hard edged yoke - like one of the new Clay Paky heads.  I could be wrong about the moving heads, but I bet I’m pretty close on the projector heads…

If you’re in Philly, you’ll be able to see the Ben Franklin Bridge lit up for Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness, efforts to prevent premature birth, Veteran’s Day, and Thanksgiving.

November 17-26, 28, and 30, the bridge will be illuminated with purples to promote the Delaware Valley Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk, which has raised several hundred million dollars towards the Alzheimer’s fight.  November 10 and 12-16, the dridge will have red and blue lighting for March of Dimes Prematurity Awareness Month, and on November 11, Veteran’s Day will be commemorated with red and blue lighting.

Thanksgiving will get yellow and brown lighting, and my only question is - what are they considering “brown lighting?

Thanks to Philly.com for the article!

Treehugger posted an article about “the most relaxing room in the world” - a space at the University of Herfortshire was created to help people relax - lit in heavy blues and greens, the room featured lavendar scented pillows, soft original music by Tim Blinko, and an artificial blue sky.  From the original article at Alpha Galileo:

“The pace of modern-day life, credit crunch, and financial crisis is making many people feel very stressed and so we have created this space to help them relax”, noted Professor Wiseman.

“Research suggests that the subdued green light enhances the production of dopamine in the brain and provide a calming sensation. In addition, the artificial blue sky helps create a mild form of sensory deprivation that will help them turn their attention inward and distract them away from daily stress.”

The Alpha Galileo article has a bunch of tips on busting stress.  Are you stressed out lately?

You MUST go to the Yatzer Design Blog and check out the exhibit by Héctor Serrano Studio for Roca called Waterdrop.  This is an amazing exhibit.  Make SURE to watch the video that’s halfway down the page.

Waterdrop is a tribute to water.

Inhabitat has a great article about the Dobpler LED Wall, which is a motion-activated LED installation in the pedestrian tunnel in Sandnes Sentrum, Norway.  The installation was a part of the city’s European Capital of Culture 2008 events - The Strømmer, as it is called, is an interactive wall of LEDs that illuminate when a person passes by it, and follows that personas they travel down the wall.  There’s a great video of this on the website of the architect, Snohetta Architects of Norway.

From the Inhabitat article:

The Strømer is the brainchild of Stig Skjelvik and Snøhetta architects in collaboration with Prototyper AS and Rasmus Hildonen. It is based on Stig’s Dobpler prototype, a modular interactive LED system that is activated by movement. When arranged next to each other, the project create a uniform series of modules that illuminate based upon a visual input system. As people move through the tunnel the wall lights up and leaves luminous trails behind them. Needless to say, this is a great way to turn a very, well, pedestrian space into a brand new experience.

Look at some of the images from the installation.  Does that not look like a lot of fun?

In researching about the Sustainable Dance Club concept, I discovered an article by Inhabitat about a series of dance club installations in Germany and Spain called Kubik.  These temporary dance club venues were outdoor installations created by lighting up reclaimed industrial tanks and fusing them into a melding of architecture, music, and lighting.

You definitely need to check out the project pages - Kubik had installations in Berlin, Barcelona, and Lisbon.  These were all “green” (environmentally friendly) and temporary, and apparently a big hit.

Inhabitat has an article about the first Sustainable Dance Club that opened in Rotterdam, called Club Watt.  Club Watt features an LED dance floor that is powered by the kinetic energy the dancers generate, and has other

elements of sustainability set forth by the Sustainable Dance Club group.

How does a dance club become a part of this group?

To qualify as a Sustainable Dance Club™ your club must reach a certain level of sustainability as defined by the 5 SDC™ guidelines:
- 30% less environmental impact than average clubs
- Sustainability integrated in both building and organisation
- Installation of 3 SDC™ spectaculars that show sustainability to the public (Sustainable Dance Floor, Zero Waste Bar, Waterwall)
- Communication plan on how to inform the public about sustainability
- Sustainable business plan with yearly targets and evaluation