'SOLARIS' (2003 - competition entry)
Inside the entrance hall, which is distinguished by the clear orthogonal articulation of the walls, an object with the working title "Solaris" is suspended from the ceiling. Aligned with the longitudinal axis of this rectilinear space, it can be viewed from various standpoints.
Central aspects of the discussion occasioned by this work are the earth and the generation of energy from sunlight. These are depicted in a mathematically precisely calculated Mercator projection of the map of the world in a sandwich form of construction, penetrated by an eight-metre-long illuminated perspex strip.
By means of a sensor mounted on the roof of the building, the actual radiant solar energy per square metre can be measured at any moment of time over a period of 24 hours and can be fed via a control device into the LEDs fixed to the lighted strip. If the insolation energy absorbed is greater than about 800 V/m2, the strip gleams bright red. With reduced intensity, the coloration gradually changes within the spectral band to a cool blue at night.
In the new millennium, the sun assumes increasing importance as a source of energy.
Above all, our childrens' future depends on this area of technological development.
Designed for 200 children up to 10 ten years of age, the collaborative scheme at Prälat-Wellhofer-Strasse 5 in Munich provides an environment where children and their teachers can observe and actively experience the course of the sun - daily and seasonally - as well as the intensity of its radiation.
Model, scale 1:20