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innovative design competition for street lighting

Team

Jeroen Ruijter

Jeroen.ruijter@hva.nl
Bauke Bakker

baukebakker@me.com
Alejandro Rodas

alexrdp90@gmail.com
Anna Triboli

anna.triboli@gmail.com
Niall MacKellar

niall.mac.kellar@hva.nl

Commissioner:

Description

By wouterklaase April 18th, 2013

Masterclass Almere: Visit to Tendris

We went to Almere to visit the Tendris factory. Once started as a small working place, over time it developed into a very important company in the lighting industry and it  has earned a lot of international prestige.

For example, the people who are working there invented a wireless light bulb. It is a concept with a lot of simplicity, but even people like Bill Clinton were really impressed just because of that. They also invented a turbine that was so small that nobody believed it would work. The philosophy behind Tendris is that if you really want something, you have to fight for it. In the beginning people might call you crazy because it is impossible to implement your idea into society, but in the end they will say you were right with your innovative concept.

We had a tour through the Tendris factory, so they could show us different projects they are working on. These days they guide a lot of groups of interested people through their working place.

Then we went to the dark room, were was shown and explained what the different effects of coloured LED are on your eyes. There was a paper on the wall with letters in different sizes. You could see that the difficulty to read different lettertypes depends on the color of light. Furthermore, with the mixture of red and a flashing blue light you can see the yellow spot your eye creates on the wall with the size of 2 euro coin. Blue light makes it hard to read the letters and distinguish the different colors on the poster to the left. Red light makes the vision of your eyes way sharper. A lot of different colors were shown on the wall, like purple, light green, yellow. They all had different effects on your eye vision. Furthermore, with the mixture of red and a flashing blue light you can see the yellow spot your eye creates on the wall with the size of 2 euro coin.

The second part was the place where they tested the amount of light and which models and graphics you can make of that. In this picture you can see a device that is used to distribute the light of a LED equally on every place around the source. A lot of different graphics were shown about this testing. To let a light function efficiently to the people who are going to use it, the distribution, amount of lux and the temperature must answer to a lot of standards which are visible in the graphic representations of the light that is tested.

The third part was about the growing of algae as a new natural and sustainable source of energy. We saw a lamp that is specially designed to grow algae. These organisms can be useful when talking about sustainability problems. For example, they can replace  the fertilizers that farmers use right now. Also they can help with the fuel shortages we will have in the future. When we will be out of oil and gas, organisms like algae might have an answer to that.

And last but not least, Taco Neeb explained about a small pump he created. He told that his small device had a lot of power: in that time it was smaller but at the same time stronger then the best pump in the market. He showed it to some companies, but they all told him the same. The market was not ready for this device, because than the old pumps that their customers trusted and had their confidence in for years would suddenly be worthless compared to this new innovation. But than it was used in an unexpected way.

The innovation was used in blood transfusion. The problem with the old pump was that it crushed  certain elements in the blood. But with this new device the blood was kept untouched. So it’s amazing to see what unexpected directions an invention can suddenly take. Taco showed another innovation that made a big impact on lighting systems used in the greenhouse industry. it was a new kind of LED lamp that is way more effective to let grow different kinds of plants. When you held your hand on it you could really feel the warm temperature that was caused by the coloured LED. This system was way more sustainable in an economical way than the old systems that were being used. What the workers of Tendris showed us is that when you really believe in your idea and you fight for it, there might always be a change that people pick it up and can use it in an innovative way. Don’t feel held back because people say it’s impossible to make it or the world is not ready for it.

 

By wouterklaase April 16th, 2013

Maquette of the Agavestraat

To test our concept we made a maquette of the Agavestraat. We used a wooden plate, polystyrene, paper, tape and wire to make some houses. We used different kinds of lights in our street, for example LED light. By switching the light in the room on and off we were able to test the effect that the light is going to have in the Agavestraat during daytime and during night time.

In these pictures you can see the effect that blue LED light has on the walls and the ground during artificial night time.

By niallmackellar April 3rd, 2013

Feedback from the residents

 

By alejandrorodas March 28th, 2013

Masterclass in Terschelling

Last week we went to Terschelling for the two days masterclass “The value of darkness” in which – as in the rest of Light Challenge activities – all teams participated with their respective coaches.

We had a presentation of the famous Dutch astronaut André Kuipers. He explained us some interesting aspects of the daily life in the International Space Station (ISS), for example: how he had to learn to move without gravity an the importance of water in the station, due to the fact it is an expensive but basic good. He showed pictures of objects randomly floating around in the spaceship, and therefore very hard to find back when you’re not watching them. Most interesting for us – as designers of public lighting – were the pictures of the Earth taken from the space station. Kuipers showed us pictures of the northern- and southern light seen from space, and also the magnetic fields that form patterns around the globe. Furthermore he made a lot of pictures of islands, countries, deserts, mountains, lakes and forests. You could really see the effect of darkness in space and the light around the planet.

After the presentation, we had the opportunity to ask questions about his travel, his motivations to become an astronaut and the future of his career. He explained how difficult it is to be selected again since the european part of the ISS is relatively small (around 8%) and the age is an important factor.

Then we took the boat from the Waddenpromenade to Terschelling. When we arrived at the island, three presentations were given about darkness and light pollution. The mayor of Terschelling told about the plans that the island has about green energy, more effective light and the value of darkness on the island. Then the coach of one of the teams told about  historic inventions that were important for lighting in the Netherlands, and the last presentation was told by a project developper. He told about his idea of Dark Sky Parks. In this kind of park there is not any light pollution, so you can really see the dark sky, the stars and the moon. During the walk to the hostel where we would spend the night we could see the value of darkness on the island. There are many areas where  you can really see the sky without light pollution.

 

By wouterklaase March 28th, 2013

Second meeting with the residents

We organized a meeting with the residents to show our concepts and to have a discussion about the way to implement them in the Agavestraat. This time we wanted to use a more interactive way of working than only showing a powerpoint. We printed a map and some pictures of the Agavestraat and we took some paper and pens to let the residents write down their ideas. We asked if they could write down what – according to them – are the positive and negative aspects of their street.

Furthermore we let them draw out their daily routine and we asked to describe the way they feel about the Agavestraat, making use of three words. This way we could discover the way they think about the street, which is partly based on the first associations that are made when talking about it. This can be done by writing things down and have a discussion about the street. After this interactive part we showed our concept presentation, and we let the residents give feedback on it. They told us which parts they like, but also which parts of the street they would like to see improved, and how we could make use of already existing objects in the street.

 

By wouterklaase March 21st, 2013

Visit to the Indal Industria factory in Emmen

 

By alejandrorodas March 20th, 2013

3D model of Agavestraat

During the lasts weeks, we have been designing a 3D model of Agavestraat. This representation of the street helps us to visualize our concepts and see how they fit in the available spaces, as well as present them in a visual way. You can click on them to watch them in a larger size:

By annafrancescatriboli March 14th, 2013

Research Report

To have a complete and general view of the subject we are working on we used different kinds of research methods, dividing them into qualitative and quantitative research. The desk research was structured into a theoretical part, based on literature review, and a more practical part thanks to the development of a 3D model of the Agavestraat. The field research was on the other hand divided in different categories, such as a mini focus group,  interviews, observation and a survey.

Safety                           Design                            Innovation                  Sustainability

After our research we found out that a lot of ideas have already been developed, but that there can still be an opportunity to create an effective and innovative idea. Combining the important sustainable and innovative perspectives with the social aspect and the information gathered from the street and its residents, it is possible to realize a new product and, at the same time, improve the social environment of the Agavestraat.

 


 

By wouterklaase March 14th, 2013

Visit to the Indal Industria factory in Emmen

To get an insight in the production of public lighting, our project supervisors took us to the Indal Industria factory in the city of Emmen. Klaas Faber, the account manager of the factory, shortly introduced the work of Indal in a presentation. He told that the factory had been taken over by Philips, but although this big company will have a lot of influence on the production, Indal still manages  to be very unique in the street lighting market: the production system that is used is very flexible and customer-orientated. This means that when receiving an order from a municipality or an investor, the factory will do their best to make the product as specific as possible. This flexibility is one of the key factors of the successful production of Indal. Furthermore he explained that the factory is currently switching to producing more LED light, which is called ‘ the light of the future’ because it is said to be more sustainable and effective than the older light systems.

While listening to the presentation, a lot of different street lights – with and without LED – were exposed in the same room, as you can see behind us.

In this picture you can see that the lamp in the middle of the whiteboard uses LED light. You can see it by the shape of the little light bulbs. Klaas Faber explained that you can reach different effects of LED light with color: you could for example use cool-, neutral- and warm white light. Deciding which color should be used depends on the wishes of the customers. Do you want the light to be nice and warm? Should it simply give more light then there is now in the area? Should it give the feeling of safety?

To compare, the street light at the right side can give a cosy feeling to a street: the design of this is a nostalgic one, but of course you can put modern LED light inside.

After the introduction we went to the working place, where we saw how the light product was crafted both by machines and human hands. Instead of being confronted with endless assembly lines, we saw people working intensively on creating the street lights out of raw material. Especially the very thin material of LED light panels requires a precise treatment. The different stadia of the production of a light and it’s armature were shown: the digital draft of the product, putting the LED lights together in the right spots, the aluminium shaping and cutting, powder coating of the aluminium to make the material resistant against the bad weather, implementing the light into the material, testing, putting the product into the packaging and then put them in the lorry to transport them.

In this picture you can see how the LED lights are put together to make them work effectively. The LEDs are delivered in strips, which looked a bit like film strips. The machines then put the tiny light sources in the right order, so they can be used in the specific products.

We learned a lot about the way street lights are crafted. Although we have to come up with our own concept, we can use our new knowledge as inspiration. We have seen the technologies to make common lights, but also the way that Indal experiments with technology and design. In the lighting industry, it’s always necessary to think about the future, because public lighting is a landscape that is changing very rapidly. In this picture you can see a design that we don’t see that much in the streets, but maybe we will see them appear more in the future, or maybe a light that is only based on this design. Light is never a finished product, because it can always be inspiration for new ideas.

Via the link  indal-lighting.nl you can find more information about the Philips Indal factory.

 

By wouterklaase March 7th, 2013

Brainstorming with Charlie Mulholland

Charlie Mulholland came to the MediaLAB to teach about brainstorming. He told that, according to the creative process-model of Tassoul, you are dealing with divergent and convergent thinking during the development of a project: in the first phase you are exploring a lot of information and theories, and in the second phase you will have to select the best ones to come to one clear point again. Un important aspect of brainstorming is that in most cases you are dealing with a ‘wicked problem’: a problem that is ill-defined. Therefore the first step is to know exactly what the problem is. While redefining the problem in your own words you can also look at the answers that don’t help. By this you can make your vision broader and see the problem from a different perspective. The next step is to decide who the stakeholders are. Come up with as much stakeholders as possible. Don’t be critical, just write them down!

So let’s use this model for our project, the Agavestraat. According to the Light Challenge 2013 the problem is that the lighting is not sustainable and innovative enough, and it never included any participation with the residents. If you take this problem in consideration once more, a logical question is: are these also the problems of the residents or do they have different issues? During our first meeting in Almere the residents told us that they do not always have a save feeling in the street, and for some people the street light is shining too powerful into their houses. When taking all this information together (convergent thinking), maybe we can come up with a better definition of the problem, for example: how can we renew the streetlight in the Agavestraat to be more sustainable and meaningful for the residents? In that way we captured the term ‘innovation’ in ‘renew’, sustainable is in this definition and in ‘meaningful’ the elements of savety and light-effectivity for the residents are included.

What are the negative ideas that won’t give a solution? Using a lot of light will certainly not be the right answer, because that doesn’t automatically make the street saver, and people will have too much light shining into their houses. Also we can’t use too much energy, because the government will have to spend too much money.

Who are our stakeholders? The most important ones are of course the residents, the Light Challenge and the municipality. But besides these three we can come up with more parties: ourselves, MediaLAB, companies that make material for street lights, investors, light artists, other visitors of the Agavestraat, people who leave nearby, animals, police and journalists.