Media Architecture Institute

The Bayer Tower in Leverkusen is not gona be demolished, but will resplend in new light – not any more as an office building, but as an ultramodern media facade. The Bayer AG plans the transformation of the former company center into a far away visible media sculpture and wants thereby to create a up-to-date visualization of Bayer at the head office of the enterprise. The 122 meters high office tower will be used by Bayer as an impressive communication instrument. The completion of the new media facade is intended for spring 2009.

WA is a site-specific video installation created for Knoll International by Gabriel Winer and Dana Karwas. Large-scale architectural projections turn the existing seventeenth century facade into a drive-by cinema and pedestrian spectacle. Playing with a unique two-screen format, the movie re-imagines the story of the company’s founders, how they discovered a minimalist approach to design, and came together to create the modernist symbol that Knoll is today.

NOVA, a project from the 150-Jahr-Jubilee of the ETH Zurich, is that world-wide first three-dimensional, bivalent color display. The Six tons heavy lightobject can not only display abstract visualizations, but also photographic and cinematic picture sequences. It will hang three years in the Zurich station hall.

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is the fifth busiest airport in the world, accommodating more than 61 million travelers per year. In 2006 it undertook a major lighting renovation to both improve visual impact and reduce energy and maintenance concerns by taking advantage of intelligent LED illumination.

The pylons of LAX Gateway are visible to airline passengers at 3,000 feet. A series of dynamic light shows was designed for the new LED-based installation, including a patriotic sequence of red, white and blue to observe the anniversary of September 11, 2001. The distinctive, architectural structures were originally designed as part of a $112 million construction and landscaping program intended to make the airport more welcoming and convenient for passengers. They have since become an iconic component of the Los Angeles cityscape for residents and visitors alike.

via: www.colorkinetics.com

Element Labs, Inc., an industry leader in LED video technology, was contracted by Doha Asian Games Organising Committee (DAGOC) to created the largest custom LED screen ever used for a live event. Especially designed for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, the exterior Versa® RAY screen made its debut during the Opening Ceremony on December 1, 2006 at Khalifa Stadium.

DAGOC main contractor David Atkins Enterprises was the producer of both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. DAGOC & DAE challenged Element Labs to create a massive LED screen for the ceremonies having the highest possible resolution and video performance. The entire screen is 165 meters wide along the curve, reaching 39 meters at its highest point. The screen is comprised of 20,000 individual Versa RAYs, which laid end to end would span 58 kilometers (over 36 miles). 762,000 individual LEDs were used, with a pixel pitch of 77 millimeters.

The Versa RAYs themselves were mounted onto large trusses with integral catwalks called “spines”. These spines are approximately 11 meters long and hold 148 Versa RAYs in varying lengths, from 750 millimeters to 3 meters.

via: elment labs

During November 2006 BLIP set up a transparent ten metre LED display in the botanical glasshouse of Sunderland’s Museum and Wintergarden for the National Glass Centre’s Snowdome project. Until early January 2007 an international group of artists including Flunk from the UK, Claire Davies from Germany and China’s 3Gi exhibited works on the display using the internet.

The majestic Taishin Bank Tower stands approximately 400 feet (120 meters) tall with an elegant architectural design that’s become a new urban landmark in the city of Taipei. Conceived by the renowned architecture firm of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, the tower’s curvilinear shape mimics that of nearby Jenai Circle, which inspired a uniquely dynamic lighting design by Fisher Marantz Stone (FMS).

The National Library of Belarus, an architectural diamond, is lit at night in stunning fashion by 4646 color-changing RGB LED fixtures.

In 2006, Minsk received a new architectural symbol – a brand new building to house the National Library of Belarus. The twenty-three storey library is designed in the form of a rhombicuboctahedron (diamond) and symbolizes the enormous value of knowledge that mankind has stored in books.

Aspire Tower is a national icon for Qatar, the tallest building in the country and is specifically associated with the National Centre of Sports Excellence in the Middle East. The building was to be completed within 15 months for the Asian Games of 2006, and thereafter a focus for events in the sports complex and national celebrations. The lighting had to be very flexible allowing the tower to convey moods and dynamics relating to specific events. Challenges: vast height of the building (300metres); requirements for visibility at considerable distance from the tower; integration with the mesh façade; climatic conditions; very tight timescale. KSLD’s early practical approach allowed the design to develop rapidly so orders could be placed.

The Palacio de las Artes Reina Sofia is an extraordinary architectural achievement and cultural landmark in the heart of Valencia. Designed by famed architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava, the performing arts center makes use of cutting-edge technologies that complement its contemporary design.