Page 47 - Between light and shade

Light, transparency and reflection

and the calorific infrared radiation is converted
into electrical energy. The fibre bundle can then
be divided, like the human vascular system, to
power point light sources.

Although these devices are still unaffordable
for common application 35, the International
Polar Foundation allowed me to include them,
in 2004, for its “Environment Centre” project in
the grounds of Toronto University [01/477, Fig. 27,
28 and 29].

With a completely solid wood structure, 24
tubular columns 36 support the floors and include
a fibre optic core powered, during the day, by
light — top-down — from these sensors placed
on the roof and, during the night — bottom-
up — by powerful mercury vapour and metal
halide lights (themselves powered by batteries
charged during the day by the sensors). These
major arteries then distribute light through the

35 The subject is only just starting to arouse the interest of
industry, and still only very tentatively. Various new compa-
nies are working on it, including Echy, founded in France in
2010 by Quentin Martin-Laval (X-Pont 2012) and Florent Longa
(X 2012) while they were still studying at the Ecole Polytech-
nique, which is already offering small cost-effective systems.

36 I intended creating these columns using unwound sheets of
wood (veneers), re-rolled like a Havana cigar. This process was
invented on 24th November 1995 by Karel Kunnen as part of
practical work for a course on wooden structures that I held
for future civil engineers at the Free University of Brussels.
It enables uniform solid or annular, cylindrical or conical,
wooden columns to be created. I have not built any of these as
yet but I still view this idea as extremely promising.

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