Project 7: Investigations in Light, Space, and Form
Issues of light inform all areas of design. This project tasked us with creating an illumination device exploring an issue of light of interest to us. I decided to take inspiration from a building: Norman Foster's Gherkin in London. I wanted to explore how materiality affects light--more specifically, I wanted to create a colored light without using a colored bulb. After several sketches and material studies, I constructed a form that actually resembled another Foster building: City Hall in London. For coloration, I found a material that was colored and glittery which reflected light in a star pattern above (hence "North Star") and emitted a blue aura below. Upon the realization that a single conical form only emitted light from the top and bottom of the structure, I decided to cut slits through which I threaded Plexiglas rods in a linear pattern to mimic the pattern of windows on both the Gherkin and City Hall. The drawings helped me to visualize plans, sections, elevations, and axonometrics of curvilinear objects.
Photos:
1) Device light off, room light on
2) Device light on, room light on
3) Device light on, room light off
4 and 5) Device light on, room light off (star pattern formed above)
Issues of light inform all areas of design. This project tasked us with creating an illumination device exploring an issue of light of interest to us. I decided to take inspiration from a building: Norman Foster's Gherkin in London. I wanted to explore how materiality affects light--more specifically, I wanted to create a colored light without using a colored bulb. After several sketches and material studies, I constructed a form that actually resembled another Foster building: City Hall in London. For coloration, I found a material that was colored and glittery which reflected light in a star pattern above (hence "North Star") and emitted a blue aura below. Upon the realization that a single conical form only emitted light from the top and bottom of the structure, I decided to cut slits through which I threaded Plexiglas rods in a linear pattern to mimic the pattern of windows on both the Gherkin and City Hall. The drawings helped me to visualize plans, sections, elevations, and axonometrics of curvilinear objects.
Photos:
1) Device light off, room light on
2) Device light on, room light on
3) Device light on, room light off
4 and 5) Device light on, room light off (star pattern formed above)
6) Close-up axonometric view
7) Close-up elevation view
8) Presentation board composition
7) Close-up elevation view
8) Presentation board composition
