Radiance / PROJECTiONE

Working collectively, four graduate students  have transformed their clients’ traditional and rarely used fireplace into something completely new.  Entitled Radiance, the project is intended to exploit the traditional qualities of the hearth by re-centering the focus of the home around a contemporary ambient environment.  The clients’ background, one an artist and the other an architect, allowed this project to become more of “a commissioned artwork rather than a client-based architectural intervention” – an opportunity that truly allowed PROJECTiONE to further their theories and interest in their plyLight sketch prototype.

More about the project, including images, after the break.

Inspired by the form, geometry, and organizational structure of shelf mushrooms, a series of pods –  a radial set of 16 plastic components with an LED and a Passive Infrared Sensor – was arranged within an abstracted system.  A Grasshopper definition was developed to create the overall pattern and generate final fabrication files, including toolpaths for acrylic and MDF milling, as well as wire length calculations for each component.

Kyle Perry

As far as construction, most of the elements were fabricated off site and attached to a metal framework that was erected around the fireplace.  The MDF is the structural armature for all wiring, sensors, circuit boards, and plastic components. On the front side, the main LED wiring is exposed to express the organizational pattern while the reverse side contains all sensor, power, and serial wiring.

Adam Buente

The 512 LEDs in the pods correspond with 16 different Printed Circuit Boards (designed by the team).  The boards have Integrated Circuits (TLC5940NT dip-28, made by Texas Instruments) utilizing Pulse Width Modulation (PWM or dimming), allowing the LEDs to be dimmed individually which creates a subtly varied setting.

Kyle Perry

The elements then pulse slowly out from the center when the sensor is triggered. There are two pulses that occur after triggering a pod’s sensor. A primary ‘pulse’, that fades to full intensity and quickly fades off, followed by a secondary ‘pulse’ which fades on quickly but dims slowly over nearly a minute. This pattern can be interrupted as new users trigger a pulse creating the dynamic lighting affect.

Adam Buente

The lighting effect creates “dynamic changes in intensities across it surface,” providing a constantly changing centerpiece for the home.  ”By creating simple geometry and interactions at local levels we could render complex reactions and forms in the overall scheme. Though it was developed and organized through its sub-components, the result is a continuous system which reacts uniformly,” explained the designers.

Eric Brockmeyer
Kyle Perry
Kyle Perry
Kyle Perry


Cite: Cilento , Karen. "Radiance / PROJECTiONE" 17 Jun 2010. ArchDaily. Accessed 23 May 2013. <http://www.archdaily.com/64841>

28 comments

  9. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    The interaction is really great.
    In term of further use, I would think about it more in larger spaces than confined single houses, where this could be quite omnipresent – even too heavy – day after day.
    But it’s definitely a great work and we’ll see more and more interactive architecture in the future.

    Reply
  12. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    Thanks ArchDaily for the post! And thanks to everyone for the responses.

    In response: We used eleven Arduino Pro Mini microcontrollers (for the 32 pods of 16.) Each pod has a custom printed circuit board that controls the 16 LEDs individually using a TLC5940NT dip-28, made by Texas Instruments.

    The music: Aquarium by Nosaj Thing

    More info at PROJECTiONE.com

    Reply
  14. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    great project, but idea for me is to decorative and it’s trully fits only for bachelor project.
    However… nice result. Like it a lot.

    Reply
  28. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    Hi, I keep seeing a 404 blank page and I was hoping to find out if it’s just me or if it’s on your end and what I can do? It’s almost stultifying to be shut out.

    Reply

Share your thoughts