cloudscapes
Transsolar + Tetsuo Kondo
The installation “cloudscapes“ was designed in cooperation with Tetsuo Kondo. It consisted of an indoor cloud and was a tangible depiction of climate engineering at the Architecture Biennale in Venice 2010. A floating cloud inside an enclosed environment can be accomplished by having temperature-stratified air layers, where the air temperature significantly increases with height. The lowest air layer is the heaviest and the coolest, and dry. The highest air layer is the lightest and the warmest. Water vapor is released into the warm, middle air layer until individual droplets begin to condense, and the cloud begins to materialize. Contrary to what we feel, humid air is less dense than dry air, so the cloud does not fall to the ground. The air above the cloud is the lightest due to its high temperature. Thus the cloud is trapped between two pillows of air.
Photos:
Tetsuo Kondo (1, 5-8) und Frank Ockert (2-4)