What if we don't need a cable to transport light?

Rendering below shows SmartLight in action. Image courtesy of source site.

 

CINCINNATI, USA. A pair of scientists from the University of Cincinnati are convinced there is enough daylight for every room in every building. Their idea is to get rid of mediums in turning light into energy and the latter into light again. Anton Hafmann and Jason Heikenfield propose to channel light through the grid of electrofluidic cells, and then 'poured' down by demand above a certain area of the room. Each cell is only a few millimeters wide and contains fluid with high optical properties. Minimal electrical stimulation (cells are self-powered by sunlight; embedded phtotvoltaics are located by the windows) turns fluid into lenses shapes, and thus controls the light. According to Heikenfeld, professor of electrical engineering, the whole system 'looks like a piece of glass that all of a sudden switches."

 

Surely, this is the system for the Gulf.

 

Full article can be found on this website.

Light Well - Well?..

RAILWAY SERVICE CENTER, StPetersburg, Russia

Where else if not in the city famous for its White Nights (oh those nights... OK, this is another story :) could we encounter the light well as it is and in such an abundance (we are in Russia, remember?). Solid concrete roof/ceiling with lots of wells dispersing light + big front edge window walls + big :) screens displaying destinations and time table - they all constitute the lighting setting for the huge hall (see, Russian's synonymic to "huge" and "big").

Daylight helps in cutting down the energy consumtion and this is amazing 'cause in the 70's (the time the building's construction refers to) the energy cost was low in the Soviet Union... Thinking future - the architects of the past were good at it!

Moucharabiehs control light at AWI

ARAB WORLD INSTITUTE, Paris, France. Completed in 1987, this building became a major architectural and urban tourists' attraction in the French capital. Jean Nouvel made the South wall resembling Arabic moucharabieh or mashrabiya (window with enclosed wooden latticework). Besides aesthetic function, these lenses also bear a load of energy saving. I failed to find exact figures, but presuming that less light -- less heat -- less airconditionning, would spare fortunes. I will add figures to the post as soon as I find them.

To illustrate traditional moucharabieh, we took a picture of a mosque in St. Petersburg, Russia.