• SOL • Ritual of Light by Stefano Casati

SoL ritual of lights

university

westminster

stefano casati w1614582 dp1

tc table of contents

DL - Detail RM - Real Scale Model CD - Connection Detail ML - Model CM- Concept Model ME - Measured Elevation PL - Plans AS - Assembly Strategy on the Playa TL - Top Layer CC - Connections SS - Supporting Structure FS - Finishes GL - Glue Laminate CC - CNC Cutting AS - Assembly Sequence CL - Cutting Layout EX - Expenses LI - Letter of Intent LOI SD - Section Sun Diagram FD - Front Sun Diagram LN - Light Sequence Night LD - Light Sequence Day IN - Internal View Night ID - Internal View Day BN - Back View Night BD - Back View Day PV - Perspective View FV - Front View TV - Top View FF - Form Finding HA - Hour Alignment SD - Sun Cone Development SC - Sun Cone MG - Modular Group PT - Platonic Tessellation CC - Canopy Comparison CY - Canopy SF - Sun Shaped Forms SU - Sun BC - Black Rock City BE - Burnerns’ Experience BM - Burning Man AA - Archeoastronomy SS - Sun Symbols SM - Symbols’ Matrix

sm symbols’ matrix Symbols had always been used by human in order to communicate , celebrate and teach to others before words and letters were used. Through the years, people all over the world have used symbols to mean many different things. They have become an easy way to point out an ideology, to express an abstract thought or even to denote a group or community who share the same goals.

• St Hannes cross - Finnish against evil spirits • Sun • Wyrd (Fate) - Anglo Sasson concept

• Olympic Spirits - The Hidden Gods • Elm of Awe - Icelandic magical stave • Zia rayed Sun - Native American

• Black Sun • Faerie Star - Used by many Faerie and Celtic • Pleroma- Charles Stansfeld Jones

• Buddhist Symbol of the Eternal Knot • Flower of Life - Geometric symbol of the pattern of the universe • Key to Hell - Clavis Inferni

• Hands of God - Polish • Icelandic Magical Staves Vegvsir • Kahuna Legend - Happiness and good fortune

ss Sun symbol The sun has been a symbol of power, growth, health, passion and the cycle of life in many cultures and religions throughout time. Some believe it is a representation of the higher self, while others see the sun as a god to be worshiped. The sun is revered because of its ability to create life, making crops grow to sustain villages.

Native American tribes usually included sun symbols in stories documented through art and passed down through the generations. In Egyptian culture, a winged sun disc symbol stood for protection. The Egyptians also worshiped the sun god Ra. Alse, the Greeks associated the sun with the god Jupiter. The symbol of the sun is an alchemy symbol, which represents the completing of the Great Work.

aa archeoastronomy Archaeoastronomy is the study of how past civilizations used the sky and the movement of celestial bodies to inform and shape architecture. Clive Ruggles sustains â&#x20AC;&#x153;archaeoastronomy considers symbolically rich cultural interpretations of phenomena in the sky by other culturesâ&#x20AC;?. Given its cyclical movement in the sky, the sun has been widely used in the past to locate, orientate, shape and design 1 - Abu Simbel: 22|2 - 22|10 - At sunrise the sun shines on a statue to celebrate kingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s birthday and coronation day. 2 - Chankillo: It was used by Peruvian civilizations as an astronomical calendar, marking solstices and equinoxes. 3 - Chichen Itza: 21|3 - The shadow of the stepped profile is projected on the stairs producing a snake.

stunning architectures, which were aimed to celebrate particular events on specific days. Below, the series of case studies is a selection of those architecture, which were designed to be celebratory of one particular day. Today, these mysterious places are still lining up with the sun, creating an yearly phenomena, which attracts and mesmerize the spectator.

4 - Newgrange: 21|12 - The light of the sunrise shines in the entire chamber. 5 - Parthenon: 21|4 - The sun light up the entrance of the building. It celebrates the foundation of Rome 6 - Stonehenge: 21|6 - The sun rises in line with the stones.

bm burning man “Once a year, tens of thousands of people gather in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert (also known as “the playa”) to create Black Rock City, a temporary metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. They depart one week later, having left no trace whatsoever.”

This ephemeral city began as a bonfire ritual on the summer solstice in 1986 when Larry Harvey, Jerry James, and a few friends met on Baker Beach in San Francisco. Today, Black Rock City counts 70,000 inhabitants. The festival is a choose your own adventure of early morning meditation, late nights lit up by neon and pulsating music, art installations, bicycle adventures, and much more.

be burners’ experience Live • Share • Celebrate • Explore At Burning Man, burners live the inhospitable desert in all its harsh conditions, they share goods, knowledge and experiences, they celebrate diversity, art as well as the surroundings and they explore the playa and all the mesmerizing man made structures. This experience puts you off the grid, changing your necessities and your approach to daily life. The following project aims is to be a celebration of its surrounding environment, giving burners the opportunity to get in contact with the celestial movement of the sun, celebrating it in a daily ritual.

bc black rock city 40° 47’13” N, 119° 12’ 16” W The Black Rock Desert is a semi-arid region of lava beds and playa, or alkali flats, situated in the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area, a silt playa 100 miles north of Reno, Nevada. Below the two images represent the sun diagram of BRC, highlighting the summer and winter solstice and the spring and autumn equinox. The city is aligned with a NE direction, directly facing the sunrise.

30 0 W

12 0

0 24 0 15

21 0 S

su sun The sun diagram below shows both summer and winter solstice, spring and autumn equinox and the path of the sun during Burning Man: 27|8 - 4|9.

27|8 28|8 29|8 30|8 31|8 01|9 02|9 03|9 04|9 -

sf sun shaped forms As a result of the sun study conduct on Black Rock City, the shapes below are a direct representation of the sun path on the 31|8 at 12:00am. The aim of this exercise is to generate forms which is derived by the sorrounding sun path, based on location, day and time.

cy canopy Continuing to use the sunâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s geometry as the main driver to generate forms. The following design uses the curve of the sun path, which is offset, projected and scaled, generating a surface, which represents the sun path of the 31st of August in Black Rock City. The Canopy is generated to create the maximum amount of shadow while the sun is at its highest altitude. In order to have natural lighting only the direct sun is blocked, using a scattered and small pattern, while moving away from the direct sun path the perforation becomes bigger and denser.

cy canopy two layers In order to increase the control of the light permeating the canopy a second layer is added. Using various parameters to control the size of the openings and the depth of the structure is possible to better direct and control how much light and for how long it enters the space. At the bottom of the page the canopy is adapted to represent the 21st of every month. From left to right: January to December.

cy canopy two layers Front and back elevation.

cc canopy comparison On the left, one layer canopy, on the right, double layer canopy.

pt Platonic tessellation In order to further increase the control on the sun light and how it enters the canopy mathematical ratios have been studied a graphically represented. The research focused in particular on the complex plane and platonic tessellation. Below the transformations of the complex plane,using Platonics, to find their representations in terms of SU(2) matrices, and turn these into Mobius transformations. The tetrahedral tiling.

pt Platonic tessellation Below the cubic/octahedral tiling.

MG modular group The modular group is important in number theory. The best property of the modular group is that it can be generate it with 2 Mobius transformations: A: z-> z+1 (a translation) B: z-> -1/z (inversion in the unit circle)

sc Sun cone The modular group can be adapted to different forms and to different ratios. Successively the profiles are extruded maintaining the same ration on the Z axis. The inclination is given by the angle of altitude of the sun.

sd sun cone development The various parameters of the extusions, such as base radius, proportion on the Z axis and the inclination can be change to fit the purpose, day and time. In the following pages series of extusions are combined, scaled and arrayed to create speculative shapes.

ha hour alignment The diagram below shows the orientation of the extrusion based on the hour in the day view from above.

12am 11am

10am

1pm

2pm

9am 3pm

8am 4pm

7am 5pm

ha hour alignment The diagram below shows the orientation of the extrusion based on the hour in the day view from side.

p 12

4p m 8am

5pm

7am

m 1p am 11

m 2p m a 10

3p 9a m m

ff form finding Set the moment, in which the sun and the architecture will line up, to 12:00pm on the 31st of August. Below the study shows how the nine chimneys can be organized between each other. The last one on the right is the one which looks more balanced and might work structurally.

tv top view

fv front view

pv perspective view

bd back view day

bn back view night

id internal view day

in internal view night

ld light sequence day

11:45am

11:55am

12:00pm

12:05pm

12:10pm

ln light sequence night

fd front sun diagram

sd section sun diagram

LI letter of intent Project Summary SOL is an architecture designed by Burning Man for Burning Man as a celebration of its surrounding landscape. The design creates an enclosed space, which is flooded with light daily at 12pm for a limited time. This ritual occurs only when both sun and architecture line up, becoming one entity. Physical Description SOL is 9m long, 3m wide and 5m tall. The entire structure is made out of 18mm birch plywood, cut with CNC and assembled on the playa. SOL is directly connected with its surrounding landscape, mimicking the silhouette of the harsh mountains. A series of 9 chimneys, which rise from the ground create several sloped surfaces where users can lay down to relax and embrace the natural surrounding. SOL was designed to act, appear and generate different experiences based on the userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s position. Frontally viewed it acts as a sun clock aligning with the sun at 12pm. The overall shape resembles a series of monolithic rocks emerging from the playa, which are inspired by the landscape. During night time, SOL is dynamically lit by LED strips both internally and externally. Interactivity and Mission Over the years, Black Rock City has seen a multitude of projects which have been created to animate the Playa. SOL aims to be a playful, interactive and informative design, which enhances the relationship between humans and celestial bodies, in particular with the sun. Human history has been driven by the cult of the sun, and divinities and architecture have been dedicated to it. With the help of parametric design and environmental analysis, SOL is a direct representation of a particular moment on the playa: 12pm of everyday.

Internally, the light that penetrates and cast itself on the floor for only 30 minutes, wants to make the user aware of the sunâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s movement in a more evident way. This phenomenon is a daily ritual, which brings people together in order to experience a connection with our universe that we sometimes take for granted since we cannot directly perceive it. During the day, SOL will be a climbable structure, which can also provide shelter from the challenging conditions of the desert. During night time it will produce a colorful show through LED strips, which celebrates the darkness of the night with artificial light. The wooden structure will be lit on fire on the last day of the festival since it was designed to exist only at Burning Man for the length of the festival. What is the philosophy of your piece? With this installation, my aim is to show to the participants how the place that surrounds them and its characteristics can shape architecture and inform and communicate through it. Not only does SOL want to be a beautiful piece of architecture to look at from the outside but also mesmerizing, intriguing and evocative once you step in. The project has two major drivers; firstly it tries to be a representation of the nature at Burning Man, secondly it wants to celebrate the cosmic nature and make the user aware of the celestial movement, in particular the one of the sun. My inspirations has a direct link to archeoastrology, a science that looks at the relationship between celestial bodies and architecture, i.e. Stonehenge, Chiceniza and the Parthenon in Rome. The common element between these projects is the attention, precision and relation with the sky and the movement of the sun. All of these projects and many more, create a different dimension where the architecture only becomes a tool to admire and contemplate what surrounds us. In conclusion, SOL aims to be an example of how architecture can be shaped by the use of data and parametric design, in order to deliver a project which is directly derived from its surrounding environment.

ex expenses

Material 18 mm Birch Plywood 6 mm Birch Plywood 60 mm Wood screws 30 mm Nails CNC cutting RGB LED Strips Arduino Electric wire Wood Glue Light Tower Fuel Water Barrels for fuel Generator 220V Compressor Scaffolding Ropes Nail gun Power drill Dust masks Gloves Crayons First Aid Kit Transport Camp Total Project

Quantity (N) Quantity (L) Price per Unit Total 62 32,38 2007,56 28 25,72 720,16 900 0,2 180 1000 0,1 100 40 180 7200 100 3,3 330 4 24,95 99,8 50 4 5 20 420 35 4 140 225 3 10 30 1000 1 500 1 2500 4 35 140 2 60 120 4 50 200 20 20 10 3 30 10 1,5 15 1 16 1 1500 20 500 10000 27563,52

cl cutting layout The diagram below show how many sheet of plywood are going to be used to create SOL. 62 sheet s- 18 mm Birch Plywood 2440-1220mm 28 sheets - 6 mm Birch Plywood 2440-1220mm The parts are nested on the sheets in order to minimize the material used. All the sheets can be cut with a 3 axis CNC router machine.

as assembly sequence The diagram shows the assembly logic of half of SOL. The same process is repeated for the other half.

cc cnc cutting

06 -1

06- 4

06- 3

06- 5 06- 6 -9

06- 13

06- 10

-8

06- 7

06- 12

-1

06- 4 06- 6 -9

06- 13

06- 10

06- 7

06- 12

-2

06- 14

06- 11

06- 3

06- 5

-2

06- 14

06- 11

-8

gl glue laminate

fs finishes

ss supporting structure

cs connections

tl top layer

as assembly strategy on the playa The scaffolding allows to lift the prefabricated sections brought to the playa by truck and unloaded with a crane. The use of pullies will facilitate the sections into place and fix them to each other. The scaffolding structure will be used as well to apply and nail the various sections forming the top layer, acting as a ladder

pl plans

1035.79

1345.77

1653.34

1965.73

2327.25

2275.70

2585.68

216.18

627.55

673.55

1178.71

1683.87

2189.03

2694.19

3199.35

3704.51

4209.68

4714.84

Measured elevation

9409.16 4344.54 309.00

415.84

723.40

1035.79

1345.77

1653.34

1965.73

2275.70

2585.68

Measured Section

cm concept model

ml model

cd connection detail

rm real scale model

dl detail