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I've seen this before. What is it?
Yep, you have seen it before, it's the Kunsthaus in Graz, Austria. It's received a lot of media attention already but because of the ingenious yet simple lighting scheme, we just had to include it here.
So who designed it?
Kunsthaus Graz is the art gallery that was built when Graz was named at the European City of Culture 2003. The architectural competition was won with a joint effort from Peter Cook and Colin Fournier with the in vogue organic blobby form - they call it the 'friendly alien'.
How does the lighting fit in?
As part of the commission for the conception for the integration of media technology into the architecture realities:united designed the 'communicative display skin' BIX which transforms the acrylic glass facade of the Kunsthaus in to a low resolution computer display. BIX is a field of 930 standard, circular fluorescent light tubes which is integrated into the biomorphic facade structure. All the lights can be controlled individually via a computer controlled data-bus system. Simple messages, icons and animations are sent out thus becoming a unique artistic message format for the new kunsthaus. The system was developed by se Lightmanagement AG.
What about inside?
The interior lighting scheme was designed by Cologne-based Kress and Adams, with most of the lighting supplied by Zumtobel Staff. Fixtures include the Tecton fluorescent system designed by Nicholas Grimshaw and the Xeno spotlight system.