Page 87 - Between light and shade
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Light, transparency and reflection
electricity generation, which is freeing itself of
the current losses caused by centralised produc-
tion. Consequently, in the very near future, our
buildings will be required to be powered by local
generation (see note 97) of 12 or 24 Volts, in addi-
tion to a 230/400 Volt supply. This is the second
giant leap in the quest for efficient and secure use
since the emergence of the incandescent bulb. I
find it hard to imagine the impact of this deve-
lopment on architecture.
The LED is also becoming the pixel for illu-
minated displays, the potential size of which
is constantly increasing 101, as for the Dexia
tower 102 [01/301, Fig. 82] or, as envisaged, on the
prow cylinder of the “Maison de la Culture de la
Province de Namur” [01/628, Fig. 55].
101 In 1977 in the United States of America, James P. Michell pres-
ented the first flat black & white television screen with several
hundred LEDs. In 2004, the “Freemont Street Experience”
display canopy in Las Vegas-Nevada comprised 12.5 million
LEDs (with a length of 460 m, a height of 27m and an equiva-
lent width).
102 The Dexia Tower, which I designed for Jean Michel Lauryssen,
a Director of “Progex-Compagnie Immobilière de Belgique”
and with Barbara Hediger for the lighting.
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