lux aeterna
a little different sundial
The sundial „lux aeterna“ is ment to be a steady counter- pole in today´s data communication traffic, where bits and bytes are clustered to gigas and terras and rushing through space. Energised through the sun, our most natural source of energy and light, the sundial shows the daytime in hours and is intended to communicate the sense of time in a natural way. Fibre optics which are also used in modern data communications, transport the light and the information about time right from the focal point to the clock itself. Even in dark rooms without any windows, a clear picture of time is displayed.
Through a spherical glass lense, the sunlight is focussed onto a screen and the focal point is moving with the sun during the day. The design of the frame, carrying the 11 kg spherical lense is based on a topology optimisation. The algorithm is computing the stresslines in the material to get an ideal proportion of stability, weight and mass of material.
„EX UND HOPP“ - an experimental design project for long-living products
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
summer 2012
mentoring:
visiting professor Hannes Mayer
Dipl.-Des. Helge Oder
exhibitions:
- „Vom Ende der Welt“ (the end of the world)
Neues Museum Weimar (11.12 - 01.13)
- Designers Open, Leipzig 2013
award: finalist of the MDR design price 2013
"Energised through the sun, our most natural source of energy and light, the sundial shows the daytime in hours and communicates the sense of time in a natural way."
how it works
9 AM
sun
3 pm
9 AM
time
3 pm
1.
through a spherical glass lense, sunlight is focussed on a screen.
2.
according to time and position of the sun, the focal point is moving with the sun during the day.
Each hour the bundled sunlight is transported through fibre optics.
3.
the transported light arrives in the interior space and displays the time given by the sun through the illumination of small glass spheres.
PROCESS
topology optimisation
DESiGN interpretation
