Lighting Design Awards 2017

Transsolar and Anja Thierfelder applied for the Lighting Design Award 2017 with their installation Lightscapes and received "highly commended":

Visible rays of sunlight, also known as crepuscular rays, were the inspiration for the installation “Lightscapes”. The goal was to recreate this natural phenomenon as realistically as possible in a historic building for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016. Crepuscular rays can only be seen if direct sunlight is blocked by obstruction, such as clouds or leaves, and trickles through holes or gaps. Furthermore, it is necessary that the visual field has a high brightness contrast and that the sunlight is scattered by microscopic particles in the atmosphere, like dust or haze, creating the so-called Tyndall effect.
In order to make the light beams visible in an artificial environment one must have extensive knowledge and skill to manipulate a room’s thermodynamic conditions. Only a particular configuration of humidity, temperature, stratification and air movement can realize the crepuscular rays for the visitors’ enjoyment.