Sometimes the beginning of the year is a little bit … well … boring. Everyone is working out at the gym and eating healthy green foods, and even though the sun still sets at an ungodly hour, all the festive holiday parties are over.  This admirably disciplined January attitude is great for working off all the pfeffernüsse you shoved in your face and chased with rum-laced egg nog at your Aunt Betty’s house in December, but if you’re not careful all of this new-found rigidity and focus could negatively affect your work.  So if you’re looking to spice up your latest facade design and hey – maybe even your life in general this month, then take a gander at this intriguing “multi-layer, polymeric reflective film that reflects 95%+ of visible light” and that can be used to create snazzy chrome-like, multicolored, and metallic effects in plastics (Source: Inventables.com).

Image courtesy UT Materials Lab & 3M

Radiant light film contains no metal whatsoever, so it’s non-corroding, thermally stable, non-conductive, and won’t produce electro-magnetic interference; it’s a well-mannered material that manages to create a striking effect with a minimum of fuss.  Taking a cue from butterfly wings, the colors in the film are created NOT through the use of pigments but rather through a series of microscopic ridges spaced a few hundred nanometers apart. Variations in the spacing of the ridges produce a range of colors (blue to magenta to gold) though the reflection and interference of different wavelengths of light, and as a result the material appears to change hue as you adjust your viewing angle.

Radiant light film is nothing if not versatile: it can be “embossed, die cut, sheet slit, precision cut, surface treated, dyed, coated to be heat sealed, coated with adhesive, printed and extruded into plastics. It can be combined with suitable color substrates to produce various vibrant colors in both reflection and transmission” (Inventables.com).  Hell – you can even turn the stuff into yarn and knit it into a sweater if you’re so inclined, according to manufacturer, 3M.

UN Studio’s La Defense, Almere

Technology: 3M Radiant Colour/Light Film.
Using radiant colour film to create interference colour.

So far the film has found applications in home décor, packaging, automotive trim and accents, computers, mobile phones and advertising media, and inspired by UN Studio, I think we should wrap some buildings with it. And then let’s go have some cookies because we all knew I’d never make it to March let alone 2013 on this ridiculous salad-filled healthy diet and I’m sore from doing pushups.

WU XING

I have filed Radiant Light film under Water and Wood. It’s flexible, reflective, and it interviews well.

Get Radiant Light Film from Inventables.

Nanocrystalline cellulose, a “building block” of wood pulp, is organized in a helical structure similar to a spiral staircase.  Silica, a primary component of glass, er … isn’t.  Nevertheless, the researchers mixed the two materials together and then burned away the cellulose.  Once the smoke cleared from the room and restorative salve had been applied to singed skin, they found themselves confronted with yellow, blue, green, and red glass films punctuated by a large number of pores or holes arranged in a helical structure that … you guessed it – resembled a spiral staircase (Physorg.com).  

Image Credit Kevin Shopsowitz

Each hole in the glass film is less than 1/10,000th of the diameter of a human hair, and the presence of the pores in the helix lends the films a wide range of applications. For example, when certain liquids become trapped in the pores the optical properties of the films become altered.  According to Shopsowitz, “by functionalizing the pores to make them more selective to particular chemicals, we may be able to develop new sensors that are very sensitive for detecting substances in the environment” (Physorg.com). The films might also find a purpose in the pharmaceutical industry, whose members could use them for various molecule separation activities.

Anyway to recap:  the scientists replicated the structure of a biological material (wood) using an inert mineral material (glass) and thereby altered its properties.  In so doing they rendered said inert mineral material even more useful to human beings.  It should be observed however, that this isn’t the first time silica has assumed the position: the lab-created silica helices mimic the structure and consequently the coloring of the exoskeletons of iridescent beetles.

Image courtesy http://jackphoto.wordpress.com

The films might be used to reduce the energy needed to cool buildings: “windows could be treated with the transparent films that reflect infrared light – the light that heats up a building. Right now, metal particles are often used to do this but they tint the windows brown” (Physorg.com).  The optical effects produced by the films in conjunction with liquids might find application in lighting design or wall coverings as well.  And in closing, I’d like to point out that they are pretty because they are shiny.

WU XING:

I’m filing iridescent glass film under wood and fire because of how it’s made and because of its properties.

Cited:

“Researchers Create Iridescent Glass that can Reflect UV or Infrared Light.”  Physorg.com via the University of British Columbia. 11/17/10.  Accessed 11/17/10.  URL.

I’m not sure how New Video figured out that I’d be interested in watching an approximately 90 minute documentary film featuring the work of a famous Dutch architect mostly in subtitled German with numerous interviews conducted in English, but that’s what happened.  I will say for the record that if it means watching interesting movies, I don’t really mind that my demographic profile has been targeted and acquired by I-don’t-know-who (though I guess anyone in my demographic would say that).  Anyhow, to cut to the chase, I watched* and enjoyed the Arthouse Films release, which is conveniently available on iTunes, entitled REM KOOLHAAS: A KIND OF ARCHITECT.

First of all, while the film isn’t exactly designed to generate pulse-pounding, white-knuckle suspense, I have no intention of spoiling the ending.  So I’ll provide you with the official film synopsis to (hopefully) get you all kinds of intrigued, discuss the portion of the film that was concerned with Koolhaas’ use of materials (because that’s really why we’re all here today, no?) and then I’ll get back to my traditional blog-type activities, such as spending two hours pouring over images of cork flooring only to find myself writing a detailed post about robot spiders.

Official Synopsis:

“Rarely has an architect caused as much sensation outside of the architecture community as Rem Koolhaas. His outstanding creations—such as the Dutch Embassy in Berlin, the Seattle Library and the Casa da Musica concert hall in Porto—are working examples of the Dutchman’s visionary theories about architecture and urban society. But Koolhaas’ work is as much about ideas as it is about constructing buildings; he is equally celebrated as a writer and social commentator. For Koolhaas, what is essential is not to create individual masterpieces, but to provoke and excite through the wide range of his activities.  REM KOOLHAAS: A KIND OF ARCHITECT is an engaging portrait of a visionary man that takes us to the heart of his ideas.  Directors Markus Heidingsfelder and Min Tesch have made a visually inventive, thought-provoking portrait of the architect, prompting Rem Koolhaas to state, “It’s the only film about me that I have liked.”

The film cuts between footage from interviews of Rem Koolhaas, images of his projects, and commentary by OMA employees and outside architecture critics.  There are also engaging collage-like sequences where a little 2D puppet of Rem Koolhaas interacts with cut-outs of buildings, etc.  Most of the time it’s zippy enough to keep a person committed to reading the subtitles, but sometimes I found myself muttering, “Wann wird das Ende?”

Eventually, discussion turns to Rem’s treatment of architectural materials.  Oftentimes in his projects, expensive materials are paired with cheap ones.  For example, at the Casa da Musica concert hall in Porto, the interior finish consists of simple plywood panels that have gold leaf applied in a large-scale wood-grain pattern.  Gyp board walls are mudded and taped but left unpainted.  The pairing of cheap and expensive materials may be intended to heighten tension and highlight the contrast between them, but I think occasionally it all sinks to the lowest common denominator.

I liked the enigmatic and fast-paced montage of materials and textures from various Koolhaas projects.  I grabbed a few screenshots from this segment for your perusal (but I’ll take them down if this makes anybody mad).

So – check out REM KOOLHAAS: A KIND OF ARCHITECT, and let me know what you thought about it in the comments!

*Full disclosure: I wasn’t paid to watch/review/endorse/criticize the film, but they did send a free digital copy and hoped I’d write about it.  And I did!

**”Just Exactly How Long is this Documentary Anyhow?”

A few days ago I encountered Jali Zari.  Surprisingly, Jali Zari is not a bald martial arts expert with a penchant for tamarind cooler.  Jali Zari is the street name of a family of acrylic panels that made the lemon that is acrylic’s propensity to scratch into a zesty lemonade by making cuts within the panels that redirect light and shadow to form attractive patterns.  Standard panels are 8 x 4 ft by 3/4 in. thick clear acrylic with a backing film applied with a transparent adhesive (AEC world XP).  The film comes in a variety of transparent and “radiant” colors.  If you’re making room dividers, lighting, signage, wall coverings, furniture, or whatever else, you’ll be able to can cut, glue, and/or etch these panels, but don’t try to thermoform them because Jali Zari will come for you and I promise you do not want to mess with that guy.

Image courtesy AECworldXP.com

Five different versions are available but, due to the veil of mystery and enigma that surrounds Jali Zari, I can’t find any images of them.  Any help would be appreciated – please comment or contact me if you have an image I can use.

1.  Quadrato resembles a flattened honeycomb (check out my post on honeybee silk to see a honeycomb).  The pattern consists of “symmetrically stacked refractive acrylic squares with slight variations among rows.” (AEC world XP). 

2.  Triangolo is aligned in rows of light-reactive triangles redirect light and shadows in a consistent pattern (AEC world XP).

3.  Mille reflects light from every orientation because it contains many tiny slices and slashes arranged sporadically with varying lengths and depths.

4.  Cascata is also active from every viewing angle, it resembles a waterfall through randomly spaced light deflectors of varying sizes (AEC world XP).

5.  Cambia is a random composition of cuts and slashes “arranged sporadically to encourage light refraction” (AEC world XP).

WU XING:

All my polymers fit in the wood category because they share some characteristics with wood in terms of flexibility.  Jali Zari also fits in the fire category because of the dynamic quality of the light scattered by the cuts in the acrylic. 

Cited:

“Connecting with Innovation.” AECworldXP.com accessed 02/04/10.  URL.