AJ, 2014.

Place: Light First - Office for Subversive Architecture

Place: Light First - Office for Subversive Architecture

The fourth AJ/iGuzzini Place: Light First proposal creates a son et lumière spectacle of Architectenbureau Kirch, Hermans, Van der Eerden's 1969 GGD Tower, Eindhoven

Our proposal imagines the GGD Tower in Eindhoven as a potential future provider of sustainable energy, in line with the city's target to become energy-neutral by 2045. The project is also an homage to electro group Kraftwerk's critical observations on energy consumption in society.

Two elevations of the tower will be flooded with light, creating one bright white side and an averted side that appears dark, due to the positioning of the light source.
Looking from the selected viewpoint, the observer sees an aureole or corona around the contour of the building. This effect deliberately refers to the short moment of darkness created by a solar eclipse. In this aggregate state the tower becomes devoid of any energy and is ready to be 'charged'.

At the same time, a mirror image of the tower appears in a nearby pool of water, creating a powerful and surreal scene. The image will be supported by darkening and/or lighting the glazed strips of the facades. Those on the lit side will be obscured while those on the dark side will be lit up from inside.



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The fourth AJ/iGuzzini Place: Light First proposal creates a son et lumière spectacle of Architectenbureau Kirch, Hermans, Van der Eerden's 1969 GGD Tower, Eindhoven

Our proposal imagines the GGD Tower in Eindhoven as a potential future provider of sustainable energy, in line with the city's target to become energy-neutral by 2045. The project is also an homage to electro group Kraftwerk's critical observations on energy consumption in society.

Two elevations of the tower will be flooded with light, creating one bright white side and an averted side that appears dark, due to the positioning of the light source.
Looking from the selected viewpoint, the observer sees an aureole or corona around the contour of the building. This effect deliberately refers to the short moment of darkness created by a solar eclipse. In this aggregate state the tower becomes devoid of any energy and is ready to be 'charged'.

At the same time, a mirror image of the tower appears in a nearby pool of water, creating a powerful and surreal scene. The image will be supported by darkening and/or lighting the glazed strips of the facades. Those on the lit side will be obscured while those on the dark side will be lit up from inside.

A 'battery-charging' effect will be achieved by lighting up each floor in turn. Once 'charged', all slabs will be illuminated then fade slowly back to the original 'empty' point. The process will be choreographed to samples of Kraftwerk's Ohm Sweet Ohm and The Voice of Energy tracks.

The line: 'I am your servant as well as your master ... so protect me well, me the genius of energy' pleads for a realistic debate on how to create an energy-neutral society.