Mirror, mirror, on the wall
When you go to a park, the whole point is to sit on the grass and bask in the lovely sunshine, right? Unless you're in New York -- where the enormous buildings impose a canyonlike gloom over many areas. So it was with the designers of Teardrop Park South, down in the Battery Park area of New York: They began extending their park at the same time as a new building was being erected, and realized they were about to face a huge problem. When both projects were completed, the building would permanently shield the park from the sun. What to do?
Haul in some huge-ass mirrors and manually re-route sunbeams, that's what! Apparently, David Norris -- a "sunlight consultant," a job title that has simply got to look suave on a business card -- stepped in to save the park, by designing a trio of eight-foot-tall mirrors that will be installed on nearby roofs and controlled by computers. As the Tribeca Trib reports:
The mirrors ... will reflect enough of the sun's rays to keep the park in sunlight year-round, he said, and in some ways will be more effective than broad daylight since the rays can be directed to different spots at different times of the day or season, as needed. The light will shine in large pools or in well-defined spotlights, but will not be concentrated enough to blind or burn, he said. "It's nothing more than once-reflected sunlight, somewhere on the order of 70 to 80 percent of the power," he said.
Heh. I love the fact that they had to clarify that the mirrors would not be used to fry passersby like tiny ants.
Seriously, though, I wonder -- has anyone ever used this technique in other ways, such as to direct sunlight deep inside buildings that have many internal rooms with no windows? Every time I visit a friend who works at a major newspaper, I'm amazed: Those places are like mushroom farms, they're so dark and unlit. Similarly, I once thought it'd be fun to put a webcam on the roof of my apartment building, pointed at the sky, and route the picture down to my computer as its desktop image. It would, in effect, be just like the old Windows "blue sky" desktop picture, except the clouds in the sky would actually move, and occasionally it would rain.
(Thanks to Sean for this one!)
Posted by Clive Thompson at June 06, 2005 03:59 AM
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Tracked on June 7, 2005 1:32 PM
» Thursday, June 09, 2005 09:15 PM from Critical Section
Clive Thompson reports on plans to use giant mirrors to reflect sunlight into a park which is permanently shaded by adjacent buildings, in Battery Park, New York. "The mirrors ... will reflect enough of the sun's rays to keep the park in sunlight... [Read More]
Tracked on June 10, 2005 6:02 AM
That's a good one, Clive.
I'm still wondering about the "frying ants" factor: call me paranoid, but I wouldn't feel safe.
Posted by: batatas at June 6, 2005 8:57 AM
Posted by: CoolDoctorJ at June 6, 2005 9:33 AM
Seriously, though, I wonder -- has anyone ever used this technique in other ways, such as to direct sunlight deep inside buildings that have many internal rooms with no windows?
There's loads of it about; the Minoans did it a bit, though with pale stone instead of mirrors; same for this nineteenth century (and rather preposterous) military installation. There's reflective tubular skylights and light wells with show-offy coloured mirrors and all sorts.
Posted by: Holly at June 6, 2005 9:48 AM
C'mon Clive, there must be a giant squid angle to this story. Isn't there some way the mirrors could be turned towards the bay to fry up some Kraken calamari?
Posted by: Andrew Rickard at June 6, 2005 10:12 AM
The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa uses mirrored shafts to distribute natural light. I'd be surprised if there weren't other art galleries that do the same.
Posted by: Isabella at June 6, 2005 10:56 AM
Holly's right, it's been around for quite a while, but it seems as though the subject is getting a lot more attention as of late.
There's a great design/sustainable living blog called inhabitat that posted a piece on this
recently.
It turns out that a Swedish company called parans makes "solar collector panels" that are linked to fiber optic "SunWire" cables that route sunlight throughout your building.
Now if only they could put some sunlight in the subway system...
Posted by: garthbreaks at June 6, 2005 11:26 AM
These links rock -- thanks all around! Andrew, believe me, I tried to find a squid angle. You *know* I tried.
I shouldn't be surprised that this concept has been around for millenia. The psychological virtues of sunlight are really well documented.
And come to think of it, I myself have actually been practising a minor version of this for years. Back in 1999, I was wandering along Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, where they have a row of antique stores, and I bought a huge 6-foot-tall mirror with a massive gilt wooden frame, the paint of which had corroded in interesting ways over the years. Outside of being a terrific mirror to dress yourself in front of, I've used it to help spread sunlight -- by putting it in the darkest corner of the apartment, facing the sun.
Posted by: Clive at June 6, 2005 12:53 PM
In 1981, the Alberta government built a system of mirrors to redirect natural sunlight into a portion of the underground pedways connecting building on the Legislature grounds. The three mirrors are placed at angle to shine through windows in the tunnel ceiling and are named "the periscopes" because of their appearance.
I couldn't find anything about them online and unfortunately I didn't have my digital camera when I walked past them today.
Posted by: Dusty Bear at June 6, 2005 3:48 PM
I find the "frying ants" disclaimer amusing too. On the other hand, I'm sure we've all had moments when it might have come in handy to have frying mirrors, no?
I've been thinking for the last year or so about using mirrors to get a little more sunlight into my house, actually. Despite the two sliding glass patio door on the south wall, I often have to turn the lights on, even on sunny days... There's something about the (lack of) design that just eats light up in this place. So all the mirror/fiber optic links may be a good place to start.
Or I could just put a high gloss polish on the 12 foot long stainless steel commercial beer cooler that was abandoned in the yard when the former owner left. And move it a few feet to the left. That *might* work, if I can actually move the thing. heh.
Posted by: johntunger at June 7, 2005 4:47 AM
John,
You neither have to move the beer cooler, nor polish it. Simply invite all the guys you know over for a "12 foot long stainless steel commercial beer cooler" party. In the presence of such an awe-inspiring piece, most men would likely move it at your whim, no explanation necessary. As for the polish, let their elbows do it for you.
The only cost to you would be beer and security (to prevent all the stray men in your neighbourhood from stumbling into your party in some sort of Pavlovian haze).
Posted by: garthbreaks at June 7, 2005 1:28 PM
Ways of getting natural light into a closed space... You're going to love this one, Clive.
Litracon. Light-transmitting concrete.
http://www.litracon.hu/
Concrete with millions of fibre-optic threads running parallel through it. Light just passes right through. It's not truly transparent, but it lets light through, and shadows transmit fantastically.
-- Tony
Posted by: poprock at June 8, 2005 5:03 AM
Posted by: asantos at June 9, 2005 3:56 AM
Post a comment
That's a good one, Clive.
I'm still wondering about the "frying ants" factor: call me paranoid, but I wouldn't feel safe.
Posted by: batatas at June 6, 2005 8:57 AM
I believe I saw an article in a recent Popular Science that discussed using fiber optics to pipe daylight into an otherwise windowless room.
Here's a link I found to a short blurb about a similar idea from 2002.
Posted by: CoolDoctorJ at June 6, 2005 9:33 AM
Seriously, though, I wonder -- has anyone ever used this technique in other ways, such as to direct sunlight deep inside buildings that have many internal rooms with no windows?
There's loads of it about; the Minoans did it a bit, though with pale stone instead of mirrors; same for this nineteenth century (and rather preposterous) military installation. There's reflective tubular skylights and light wells with show-offy coloured mirrors and all sorts.
Posted by: Holly at June 6, 2005 9:48 AM
C'mon Clive, there must be a giant squid angle to this story. Isn't there some way the mirrors could be turned towards the bay to fry up some Kraken calamari?
Posted by: Andrew Rickard at June 6, 2005 10:12 AM
The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa uses mirrored shafts to distribute natural light. I'd be surprised if there weren't other art galleries that do the same.
Posted by: Isabella at June 6, 2005 10:56 AM
Holly's right, it's been around for quite a while, but it seems as though the subject is getting a lot more attention as of late.
There's a great design/sustainable living blog called inhabitat that posted a piece on this
recently.
It turns out that a Swedish company called parans makes "solar collector panels" that are linked to fiber optic "SunWire" cables that route sunlight throughout your building.
Now if only they could put some sunlight in the subway system...
Posted by: garthbreaks at June 6, 2005 11:26 AM
These links rock -- thanks all around! Andrew, believe me, I tried to find a squid angle. You *know* I tried.
I shouldn't be surprised that this concept has been around for millenia. The psychological virtues of sunlight are really well documented.
And come to think of it, I myself have actually been practising a minor version of this for years. Back in 1999, I was wandering along Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, where they have a row of antique stores, and I bought a huge 6-foot-tall mirror with a massive gilt wooden frame, the paint of which had corroded in interesting ways over the years. Outside of being a terrific mirror to dress yourself in front of, I've used it to help spread sunlight -- by putting it in the darkest corner of the apartment, facing the sun.
Posted by: Clive at June 6, 2005 12:53 PM
In 1981, the Alberta government built a system of mirrors to redirect natural sunlight into a portion of the underground pedways connecting building on the Legislature grounds. The three mirrors are placed at angle to shine through windows in the tunnel ceiling and are named "the periscopes" because of their appearance.
I couldn't find anything about them online and unfortunately I didn't have my digital camera when I walked past them today.
Posted by: Dusty Bear at June 6, 2005 3:48 PM
I find the "frying ants" disclaimer amusing too. On the other hand, I'm sure we've all had moments when it might have come in handy to have frying mirrors, no?
I've been thinking for the last year or so about using mirrors to get a little more sunlight into my house, actually. Despite the two sliding glass patio door on the south wall, I often have to turn the lights on, even on sunny days... There's something about the (lack of) design that just eats light up in this place. So all the mirror/fiber optic links may be a good place to start.
Or I could just put a high gloss polish on the 12 foot long stainless steel commercial beer cooler that was abandoned in the yard when the former owner left. And move it a few feet to the left. That *might* work, if I can actually move the thing. heh.
Posted by: johntunger
at June 7, 2005 4:47 AM
John,
You neither have to move the beer cooler, nor polish it. Simply invite all the guys you know over for a "12 foot long stainless steel commercial beer cooler" party. In the presence of such an awe-inspiring piece, most men would likely move it at your whim, no explanation necessary. As for the polish, let their elbows do it for you.
The only cost to you would be beer and security (to prevent all the stray men in your neighbourhood from stumbling into your party in some sort of Pavlovian haze).
Posted by: garthbreaks at June 7, 2005 1:28 PM
Ways of getting natural light into a closed space... You're going to love this one, Clive.
Litracon. Light-transmitting concrete.
http://www.litracon.hu/
Concrete with millions of fibre-optic threads running parallel through it. Light just passes right through. It's not truly transparent, but it lets light through, and shadows transmit fantastically.
-- Tony
Posted by: poprock
at June 8, 2005 5:03 AM
This article reminded me of this game from the early days of the WWW:
http://www.funny-games.biz/ant-city.html
Posted by: asantos at June 9, 2005 3:56 AM