Sundial
An overview of projects, products and exclusive articles about sundial
News • News • 11 Nov 2024
Open Architecture designs conical Sun Tower as a “cultural lighthouse”
Beijing-based Open Architecture has completed the Sun Tower, a waterside cultural facility in the Chinese port city of Yantai. The asymmetrical and conical concrete tower appears to have been sliced open, revealing its inner contents and structure. Recalling the age-old practice of sun worship, the Sun Tower is described by Open Architecture as a “cultural lighthouse”, where ancient wisdom and respect for nature integrate with contemporary urban living.
Iwan Baan
Open Architecture
Archeological endeavors show Yantai to be one of the earliest places in China where people worshipped the sun. Open Architecture designed the Sun Tower as a way of celebrating the sun as a natural and life-sustaining entity. The towe... More
Project • By prescription. • Exhibitions
Sundial
Sundial is a solar analysis project by prescription. in collaboration with Arup. The geometry is strictly pragmatic, based on natural solar trajectory and without additional beautification.
Sundial is the result of a study of the solar path cycle. The gathered data is transformed into geometry for each hour of daylight. The direction of the sun’s rays dictates and shapes the outline of the sundial to provide the minimum necessary surface area. The optimized geometry also resembles that of a flower petal, and likewise the structure can be self-bearing without the need for supporting elements. This finding raises the question – are flower petals such a shape due to the trajectory of the sun?
Features: shows time in digits; works 365 d... More