SKYCOAT

Sky Like Coating Materials for Hypogeal and SkyScrapers Architectures

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Building skyscrapers, Real Estate has to constantly deal with social, economical and political issues. Nowadays market calls for a less conflictual and more profitable development niche, until now especially limited by livability and psychological constrains coming from the absence of natural light: underground architecture, including earth-sheltered and earth-covered buildings. Hypogeal spaces can tackle congestion, lack of open public space and aging infrastructures, exponentially increasing urban design opportunities to populate the “volume” contained by an over exploited earth surface. Underground can limit visual impact (zeroing main concerns about skyscrapers)and promote efficient land use in a noise and vibration-free environment, reducing energy costs by heat loss and daily temperature fluctuations control. Until now the discomfort caused by sky and sun deprivation consents hypogeal architecture only where protection from harsh climate conditions and natural disasters count more than above mentioned discomfort. SkyCoat, with a great leap underground, recreates the experience of natural light, obtained by complementary presence of both direct sun and diffused sky lights. Disadvantages of hypogeal architecture, like limited or no natural light and negative psychological reactions, are blown away by the possibility of reproducing the sun and the sky many meters under the earth surface, therefore opening a new and unexplored territory for real estate investors, architecture designers and buildings end-users. SkyCoat technology will also be verified in light design, testing how housing, offices, retail, industry and transport, can benefit from indoor natural light reproduction. At the same time, SkyCoat will be tested as coating material for skyscrapers: a thin layer of a nano-structured dichroic material will reflect warm sun light and scatter complementary cold sky component, allowing a tailor-made silhouette not necessarily corresponding to the building volume'

Introduzione (Teaser)

An EU-funded project is developing innovative technology to reproduce the natural light from the Sun and the sky in hypogeal and other spaces lacking natural daylight.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

In many places all over Europe, skyscraper constructions have been met with financial woes, and social and political challenges. This situation has provided the impetus to urban planners to look below ground for a solution to the traffic congestion and development challenges. However, any underground space developed would be covered to maximise land use, thus preventing natural light shining through.

With EU funding of the project 'Sky like coating materials for hypogeal and skyscrapers architectures' (http://www.skycoat.eu/ (SKYCOAT)), project members are recreating in the underground the experience of natural light from the Sun and diffused sky lights. Reproducing daylight in hypogeal spaces dispels any negative psychological emotions and opens new territory to real estate investors, architectural and lighting designers, and the public.

The impact of the technology will also be verified for general lighting in home, office and retail environments. In the outdoors, the possibility of using SKYCOAT technology for tailoring the perceived silhouette of skyscrapers will be investigated as well.

SKYCOAT technology is based on advanced nano-structured dichroic materials that faithfully reproduce the same Rayleigh scattering that occurs in the atmosphere, creating the celestial blue. Light-emitting diode projectors have been developed in tailored sizes, shapes and peculiar luminance, and spectral and angular distribution to produce the Sun-disk, the Sun-spot and the half-shade. A complex optical layout recreates the perception of a single Sun that follows someone as they walk.

Project members have produced test samples of four projectors and two luminaires in a showroom that visitors can access. A socio-clinical study has been conducted on 100 persons to assess the effects of SKYCOAT lighting technologies on their perception, comfort and well-being. The study verified that even constrained spaces are perceived as comfortable and much wider when lightened by SKYCOAT systems.

SKYCOAT will produce three demonstrators of the architectural projects to demonstrate the potential of the technology. These include an installation in a Metro station in Milan (Italy), a demonstrator in a blind penthouse and a demonstrator on a skyscraper facade in Lithuania.